Product: French Connection [VHS] (1971)
Rating: 4.0
An engaging and entertaining, yet standard, classic...
I do like this movie, in fact I think it is very well done and very entertaining, but in the end I must admit that this is far from a brilliant movie. It is an effective police thriller that never really transcends the boundaries of the genre and this becomes rather generic when you think about it. The performances are good, but not great, and as much as I love Gene Hackman I must admit that this is a far cry from his best performance (look to his 1988 work in `Mississippi Burning' for a more fleshed out and human portrait of a conflicted lawman).The movie concerns two detectives, Jimmy Doyle and Buddy Russo, who are struggling to tie up the lose ends in a drug ring; the French connection spoken of in the title referring to the Marseilles port through which the drugs are making their way stateside. Doyle and Russo are two very different cops with two very different ways of handling their jobs, and as the pressure mounts we can see Doyle boil over until his actions are speaking much louder than his words.It is tense in scenes, and then car chase scenes are ridiculously brilliant, but in the end I can't get around the fact that this is not the movie it is touted as.I will say this; William Friedkin does a brilliant job of creating an engrossing and fast paced thriller that will always keep you glued to the screen. Even when the film feels unoriginal and rather redundant it is still captivating thanks to Friedkin's stellar camera work. He's a dynamic director, and while this is not his best work (I found him utterly flawless in `The Exorcist' and all sorts of fantastic in `Bug') he has an unforgettable style that will keep your attention. The script is nothing fantastic or truly memorable, but it works for what it is trying to be.I understand that this served as a foundation for better police thrillers to come, so don't think I'm knocking it's `classic' status, I'm just pointing out the fact that it has not aged as gracefully as it could have. Especially when you consider this according to today's standards you see that this is a very `by the books' thriller that takes little leeway to become something revolutionary.The performances are stable, but nothing more. Both Hackman and Roy Scheider received Oscar nominations; Hackman going on to win the gold, but in all honesty I wouldn't have nominated either of them. Scheider delivers a very hollow performance, beings that the film isn't really interested in him as a character. He is merely there to represent a polar opposite to Hackman. At least Hackman does `something' with his performance, but even he doesn't really do much. He is merely a gimmick; a thin fabrication of what the `crooked cop' character is supposed to look like; but he really has no meat on those bones. There is a back story there, but it rarely makes it to the surface.Again, I like this movie, and I watch it frequently because it is so engaging; but I have to be honest and point out the fact that it is rather hollow and no where near what it could have been. I give it a B, and I do recommend it, but I recommend it with reservations. I will not pimp this as cinematic brilliance; because quite frankly, it's not.