Tuesday, March 01, 2011

AFI 93 - The French Connection



The French Connection
1971
Directed by William Friedkin
Netflix sleeve: Violent, foul-mouthed detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) pursues a suave French drug dealer (Fernando Rey) through New York City with Captain Ahab-like zeal. Featuring a legendary car-vs.-train chase scene that stands the test of time, the film won the Best Picture Oscar. William Friedkin's groundbreaking crime drama that portrays cops and thugs in a similar light took the genre down a gritty, realistic path that influenced filmmaking for years.

Before now, my only exposure to this film was from the movie Big. Tom Hanks was watching it in his hotel room not long after the 13-year-old turned 30 and went to the city. And now, having seen the movie, it's one I could take or leave. It was all right, but not great, in my opinion. Although, that car chase that the Netflix sleeve talks about was pretty fantastic. Not that I'd ever heard anyone talking about the great chase scene from The French Connection before.

1 comment:

  1. yeah, the chase scene is famous.

    the bourne identity - when he's getting away in the mini --- >

    french connection.

    j "movies need to get good again" h

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