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Realistic, fast-paced and uncommonly smart, The French Connection is bolstered by stellar performances by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, not to mention William Friedkin's thrilling production.
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Embedded in the style and themes of classic film noir, The...
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Embedded in the style and themes of classic film noir, The French Connection is a grim and relentless detective thriller that is celebrated as one of the most authentic films about police work...
A complicated deal is set up between the French people, an American money man and the Mafia. Doyle, a tough cop with a shaky reputation who busts a lot of street junkies, needs a big win to keep his career together.
- William Friedkin’s Gritty Tone
- Gene Hackman’s Captivating Performance as Popeye Doyle
- Fast Pacing
- Capturing New York’s Seedy Underbelly
- The Morally Gray Depiction of Cops
- Roy Scheider’s Powerful Supporting Turn as Cloudy
- The Legendary Car Chase
- The Ambiguous Ending
The filmmakers of New Hollywood injected a healthy dose of gritty realism into the crime genre throughout the 1970s, with movies like Chinatown, Mean Streets, and Midnight Express. One of the most influential examples of the daring crime films of the ‘70s is The French Connection. William Friedkin’s rough, uncompromising tone made The French Connec...
Gene Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his captivating portrayal of Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Doyle is a tough-as-nails detective who will stop at nothing to close a case, and Hackman nails his narrowmindedness. RELATED: 10 Classic Police Movies That Could Never Be Made Today Doyle is blinded by his quest to bring Charni...
Since action movies are getting faster and faster to avoid the genre getting stale, a lot of older action movies with slower pacing can alienate modern audiences. The French Connection doesn’t suffer from this problem, because the masterful hand of director William Friedkingave the movie a rapid pace. The script is always looking forward, bringing ...
Shot on location throughout the city, The French Connection is one of the quintessential New York crime films. John Simon declared in his book Reverse Anglethat “Friedkin has used New York locations better than anyone to day” and in watching the movie, fans can understand Simon's claim. Owen Roizman’s gorgeously grimy and grainy cinematography uses...
The morally gray depiction of the cops’ methods in The French Connection– particularly Doyle – offers the perfect antidote to the morally black-and-white cops-and-robbers noirs that portray police brutality as heroism. Doyle makes some questionable choices in his obsessive pursuit of Charnier. Like Harry Callahan, Doyle doesn’t do things by the boo...
The most talked-about performance in The French Connectionis Gene Hackman’s turn as Popeye Doyle, but Roy Scheider gives an equally compelling supporting turn as his more morally centered partner, Detective Buddy “Cloudy” Russo. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Scheider brings the same authentic everyman quality to the role of Cloudy that he wo...
Like Bullitt and The Road Warrior, The French Connectionis notable for its car chase sequence, which has been deemed one of the greatest ever put on film. As a perp that Doyle is chasing runs up onto an elevated train, the cop refuses to give up and apprehends a vehicle to chase down the train. RELATED: The 10 Best Car Chases In Movie History The p...
At the end of The French Connection, Doyle relentlessly pursues Charnier off-screen and a single gunshot is heard before a title card reveals that Charnier was never caught. The sequel revealed what happened next, taking some of the air out of this iconic ending’s tires, but the chilling uncertainty of the original movie’s ending still shocks viewe...
The film has an approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 96% based on 90 reviews, with an average rating of 8.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Realistic, fast-paced and uncommonly smart, The French Connection is bolstered by stellar performances by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, not to mention William Friedkin's thrilling production."
Tough, gritty, and realistic, "The French Connection" is an intense character-study that is never short on suspense or action. The film won five Oscars in 1971, including the Best Picture Oscar and one for William Friedkin's (only 32 at the time) intense direction.
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The film revolves around two New York city detectives and a couple of French drug dealers (hence the "French Connection"). The main detective, played by Gene Hackman, wants to restore his reputation by cracking the "big case" and doing whatever necessary to get to the bottom of it.
