FREE: THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1 & 2 Box Set DVD Gene Hackman

The French Connection Review by Martin Liebman - Part 1

"Never trust anyone."

History seems to show that every decade enjoys a style or genre that dominates its ten-year span. 2010 was the decade of the Superhero film; the 1980s enjoyed a slew of larger-than-life Action pictures; and the 1970s featured a plethora of gritty, grimy Police Dramas, perhaps none of them more revered than 1971's The French Connection. They just don't make movies like this anymore, and it's a shame. Films like this require patience, dedication, and an eye for fine detail to revel in all they have to offer, qualities that generally reflect the characters and plot lines. The French Connection is a smart, deliberate, and slowly-paced picture that takes its time in building a story and developing its characters, unlike so many of today's blockbusters that feature thin plots, minimal characterization, and a plethora of effects shots to sell tickets. Perhaps it's a result of a modern, fast-paced world, or perhaps it's just that many of today's filmmakers are like kids playing with new toys on Christmas, but whatever the reason, there seems to be a disconnect between the thinking man's films of yore and the interchangeable, dumbed-down pictures of today. The French Connection is 1970s filmmaking at its very best, a showcase for cinema as art and encapsulating the dirty, harsh, and realistic themes that era of moviemaking embraced.

French Connection Review - Part 2

Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman, Hoosiers) and his partner, Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider, Jaws) are a pair of New York City police officers hot on the trail of a large shipment of narcotics. Once they glean a bit of intelligence from one of their informants, they find themselves in pursuit of both the potential buyers -- Sal and Angie Boca and Joel Weinstock -- and the seller, Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey, That Obscure Object of Desire). Doyle's tactics may be of questionable morality, and his instincts on such matters are only occasionally right on, but he is given the go-ahead to further pursue his suspects. Eventually, Doyle and Charnier find themselves in a low-tech battle of wits as the suspected narcotics dealer eludes his pursuer at every turn -- and ultimately decides to employ more aggressive tactics against the dedicated officer. Will Doyle and Russo foil the deal, or will Charnier succeed in getting his shipment onto New York City streets?

French Connection Review - Part 3

The French Connection succeeds on multiple levels thanks to the creative talent on both sides of the camera. Few movie franchises, if one may call only a pair of films a "franchise," enjoy the contributions of two first-class directors: William Friedkin (The Exorcist) here and John Frankenheimer (Ronin) at the helm of French Connection II, not to mention a trio of highly gifted actors at the top of their games, Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey. Friedkin's Oscar-winning direction -- and Owen Roizman's (3 Days of the Condor) Oscar-nominated cinematography -- do more for the feel of the picture than perhaps even the script. The film simply revels in its deliberateness, encapsulating the long, tedious work of the detectives therein portrayed and replicating their steadfastness and arduous undertakings by capturing the action with a gritty, nasty, bare-knuckles style that places the viewers on street-level with the characters. The film takes audiences to places that are usually either dangerous or filthy or both, showing the dark underbelly of society where only few dare tread. The French Connection allows its action pieces to come about naturally and logically, made a part of the story and not simply forced in to fill a quota. The film's action highlight comes in the form of a car chase sequence that is magnificent, leaving viewers breathless in its daring and excitement. Like so many other aspects of the movie, it feels real, which is what sells it. The car is driven with skill but not perfection; the sequence flows naturally and the various perils and obstacles do damage to the car and threaten the success of the chase. Often, there is doubt as to the outcome of the chase which allows for a greater sense of tension and excitement. Indeed, each of the film's action sequences, though not plentiful, feature a level of grit, danger, and realism that lend a tremendous amount of credibility to the experience.

French Connection Review - Part 4

Gene Hackman, one of cinema's most gifted actors of any generation, delivers what may be his career-defining performance and one of two to earn him an Oscar (the other coming for his work in Unforgiven). From a purely aesthetic perspective, his portrayal of "Popeye" Doyle may not best his uncanny performance as Lex Luthor in 1978's Superman, but the part easily represents one of the actor's finest moments. Hackman portrays Doyle as both unrelenting and ruthless, single-mined in his pursuit of cunning villains that leave him precious few avenues of pursuit. He's a cop that works on instinct as much as, if not more so than, hard evidence, a character trait and approach to his work that doesn't always sit well with others. The French Connection also features standout performances from Fernando Rey and Roy Scheider in a Best Supporting Actor Oscar-nominated performance. Rey's character is the quintessential villain, street smart and evasive, remaining a step ahead, focused on his goals, but never forgetting that he and his deal have come under intense scrutiny. Unlike so many other cinematic villains, Rey's Alain Charnier is absolutely no-nonsense in his approach; he is in business for business, not for side ventures or revenge against another character. He remains focused on his task, does only what he deems necessary to successfully make the deal, and no more. He's given no witty one-liners or extensive backstory; he's an intelligent criminal that finds his work hindered only by a zealous police detective. It is another of the film's strengths that it deals in what the audience may perceive as an extension of reality, featuring characters that are motivated only by their work rather than some external or other past event that truly drives their ambitions behind-the-scenes.

French Connection 2 Review by Martin Liebman - Part 1

'French Connection 2' proves to be a worthy sequel to the original classic.

"I'd rather be a lamppost in New York than the President of France."

Sequels are a funny creature. Often, a film following up on a bona-fide classic -- Aliens, The Godfather, Part II, or The Empire Strikes Back, for example, frequently come close to, match, or occasionally surpass the quality of their predecessors (then again, there is also Alien3, Alien: Resurrection, and Return of the Jedi). Generally, though, the majority of sequels that follow up on only good, mediocre, or bad movies tend to offer little more than a rehash of stale characters, a force-fed plot, or both. French Connection II, one of the few sequels to follow up on an Oscar-winning best picture, falls somewhere in the middle. It's a fairly good movie, well-scripted, superbly acted, generally intense, and featuring a mostly logical progression from the first film, but it's no match for the precision and gritty realism of The French Connection. Nevertheless, it returns two-thirds of the original's trio of primary characters and makes for both a strong character study and a fine Action/Crime picture.

French Connection 2 Review - Part 2

Gene Hackman reprises his role as "Popeye" Doyle in French Connection II, the film seeing the dedicated officer traveling to Marseilles to bust his nemesis from the first film, Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey, also reprising his role). Doyle finds himself under the auspices of French detective Barthélémy (Bernard Fresson) who seems to know Doyle all too well, and much to the New York cop's chagrin. Doyle's pursuit of Charnier seems to be going nowhere when Charnier himself happens to catch a glimpse of Doyle from afar. Soon thereafter, Doyle is kidnapped and injected with narcotics, both breaking his will to withhold information and addicting him to the very substances he despises. Doyle is eventually freed while on the verge of death; will he recover sufficiently to chase down Charnier once and for all?

French Connection 2 Review - Part 3

French Connection II isn't quite as dreary and deadly serious as the first; it enjoys moments of levity that do well to lighten the mood. A sequence featuring Doyle sharing a few drinks with a non-English speaking French bartender is priceless in both its entertainment value and character development. Hackman's performance in both this sequence and throughout the remainder of the film is as equally mesmerizing as it was in The French Connection. He retains the self-confidence and desire to perform his work his own way as the character was developed in the first film, but he also shows a lighter side in the first act of this film that humanizes him, even in the face of the confusion and uncertainty of life in another country. The humanization of the character does not cheapen or otherwise lessen the impact and authority of Doyle's style. He's still a foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails, singleminded-in-his-work officer that refuses to take no for an answer, disrespects many of those with whom he comes in contact, and plays the game by his own rules.

French Connection 2 Review - Part 4

Doyle still remains a dark character despite a few moments of levity, and French Connection II also remains a rather dark film in its own right, taking viewers deep into the world of narcotics and the malefactors that inhabit it, perhaps even deeper than that shown in even the first film. While most of French Connection II is not quite as edgy or disturbing as something like Requiem for a Dream, it is still a scary, well-acted, and well-made film punctuated by another fantastic performance from Gene Hackman. The film's discomforting second act sells the whole; Doyle's forced dissent into the world of a substance abuser is both startling and painful to witness, the plot sold not by the visuals or the direction but rather by Hackman's uncanny performance. Whether angrily dismissing Charnier's attempts at breaking him, writhing in agony from his "cold turkey" recovery, or delivering his extended dialogue sequence discussing baseball, the actor delivers a performance worthy of the picture, the character, and the Oscar he earned for his portrayal of the same character in The French Connection.