The French Connection

Directed by William Friedkin, The French Connection follows grizzled cop Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) as he and his partner, Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider), attempt to take down a gang of drug smugglers hailing from New York City and Paris. It’s a strong plot that admittedly does take a while to assert itself, as Friedkin, working from a script by Ernest Tidyman, initially emphasizes the episodic exploits of the protagonists – as Popeye and Cloudy go about their day-to-day business and, eventually, stumble upon what they believe to be a drug-smuggling ring. There’s little doubt that the viewer’s interest, at the outset, is held primarily by the inherently compelling nature of the central characters’ matter-of-fact endeavors, with the compulsively watchable vibe heightened by Hackman and Scheider’s powerful work and by the inclusion of several electrifying action sequences (eg Popeye, clad in a Santa Claus suit, engages in a brief yet exciting foot chase with a suspect). Friedkin’s appropriately gritty directorial choices prove effective at perpetuating the movie’s authentic, down-to-earth atmosphere, and although the procedural-like bent of Tidyman’s screenplay occasionally threatens to become oppressive, there ultimately reaches a point at which it becomes impossible not to actively root for Popeye’s increasingly dogged, almost obsessive attempts at stopping the aforementioned smugglers. Of course, The French Connection‘s shift from very good to excellent is triggered by its now-infamous car-chase sequence – with the strength of this interlude cementing the movie’s place as a classic bit of ’70s filmmaking. (It’s just as clear, however, that everything that follows can’t help but feel a little anticlimactic, although, on the other hand, there’s certainly no denying the impact of the unexpectedly downbeat finale.)

***1/2 out of ****