The French Connection

Rating

Director

William Friedkin

Screenplay

Ernest Tidyman (Novel by Robin Moore)

Length

104 min.

Starring

Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Biacno, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frdric de Pasquale, Bill Hickman, Ann Rebbot, Harold Gary, Arlene Farber, Eddie Egan

MPAA Rating

R

Review

Detective thrillers have been around for decades but when ‘Popeye’ Doyle made the scene in 1971’s The French Connection, a new breed of detective was born.

Jimmy Doyle (Gene Hackman) doesn’t play by the book. His loose-cannon attitude causes more problems than it creates. However, he does get the job done. In The French Connection, Doyle and his partner Buddy ‘Cloudy’ Russo (Roy Scheider) are intent on stopping Sal Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) from flooding the streets with drugs.

Involved in the plot is a dock worker turned businessman Alain Charnier who intends on smuggling drugs from France into New York City. The plot to uncover the location of the drugs and thwart the racket takes Popeye and Cloudy into a dark underworld where their own safety is put at risk.

The French Connection is a fast-paced thriller filled with gun fights and chase scenes. The gritty look of the film and its locales are a departure from the later action films that would take the film as their inspiration. One of the biggest differences is that there are no female leads or love interests. They are only looking to bust a crook or two however they can.

The film gives little back story about these two detectives. Cloudy remains a mystery throughout but a few smatterings of information filter in about Popeye’s history. He’s well known for having cost another cop his life through his reckless pursuit of justice. Hackman gives Doyle the grim countenance and carriage that make him an admirable yet detestable person. We don’t like the way he handles people but can’t help but believe he has the best interests of non-criminals in mind.

The French Connection‘s story is completely conventional. The audience can’t help but believe Doyle will get the bad guys in the end. However, several late-film twists make the conclusion slightly less conventional and more unexpected.

Director William Friedkin, whose later work on The Exorcist is far superior, nonetheless does a fine job with The French Connection. These two films represent the only high quality productions of his career and it’s a shame he couldn’t have created more inventive projects. His best work comes alongside editor Jerry Greenberg for a tumultuous 15-minute chase sequence through the streets of New York as Doyle chase a man who tried to assassinate him from the rooftop and instead hit a mother walking her stroller.

Doyle careens through the city under an elevated rail line as the subway car above rockets ahead under the control of the pistol-carrying assassin. The scenes flash quickly by, intercutting reaction shots and tracking shots with under-rail perspective shots and front-mounted vehicle shots. The result is a masterful blend of action and suspense that keeps the viewer riveted until the ultimate confrontation of Doyle and assassin on the iron steps of a rail station.

The French Connection has a number of original and interesting elements. Hackman and Scheider are both excellent, the better of the two being Hackman. The story is involving and the editing is fast paced and entertaining. However, with the lack of back story and somewhat boiler plate story, the film never amounts to the greatness that won it the Best Picture Oscar from the Academy. There is no doubt that it’s an accomplished piece of filmmaking. It just isn’t the be-all-end-all of the genre.

Review Written

November 28, 2006