Product: French Connection [VHS] (1971)
Rating: 5.0
Innovative Crime Drama Set the Stage For Many to Come
Along with the less-gritty, fashionably crafted "Bullitt," "The French Connection" set the stage for many crime dramas that followed, and epitomized the genre of the brutal detective story.A slightly fabricated account of a true drug bust made by real-life New York City narcotics officers Eddie "Popeye" Egan and "Sonny" Grosso in the early 60s, "The French Connection" stars Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle, a gruff cop who hates drug pushers with a passion, paired with his loyal, sensible partner Cloudy Russo (Roy Scheider in one of two breakthrough roles landed in 1970). After a "hunch," the two ruthless narcotics officers tail a greaser (Tony Lo Bianco) whom they find is connected to a big-time drug broker (Harold Gary). Soon, Popeye and Cloudy have stumbled onto what appears to be an imported heroin deal headed by French gentleman-brute Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), dubbed Frog One. The plot unfolds to reveal a complicated conspiracy to smuggle 120 pounds of heroin into New York City from France. Once Popeye grabs the case, he doesn't let go, even at the discouragement of his boss (played by the real-life Popeye Egan), all leading to a vigorous and relentless investigation."The French Connection" is brilliantly directed by the then-great William Friedkin (he won the Best Director Oscar), using a unique 'induced-documentary' style that captures the seedy underbelly of New York City, and the real-life story itself. The flawless improvised dialogue is what makes the film so real, topped off by the gritty Oscar-winning performance of Hackman, aided faithfully by nominee Scheider. The movie is one of the most realistic, genuinely engaging crime dramas ever made, capturing the tension among the officers in the beareau, and sheer passion and frustration of the 'good guys,' obsessed with getting their man. Though "The French Connection" seems heavily fictionalized when compared to the real case, it remains as real as a crime drama can get...despite a gripping pure-Hollywood car chase that sent the film over-budget.