Make the Connection (The French Connection (DVD))

Member Name: snappy

Product:	The French Connection (DVD)
Date:	15/07/00 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great script and cast, nice twists

Disadvantages: bit heavy going at times

"The French Connection" is probably the most famous and heavily praised of all buddy-cop films. It is an excellent film with much action and dramatic tension. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider play cynical but determined New York cops out to bust a big heroin ring. Stake-outs and hunches lead to encounters with the criminals, who vary from dangerous assassins to wealthy businessmen to streetwise hoodlums. There is a famous "chase" scene which has Hackman driving a car, recklessly weaving through traffic, following a sniper who has commandeered a train. "The French Connection" won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hackman), Best Film Editing, and Best Writing. There are some great moments besides the chase sequence. Hackman tries to follow criminal mastermind Fernando Rey, who plays cat and mouse games to escape. Another great scene has Hackman and Scheider tapping a criminal couple's home phone, and falling over laughing after hearing the wife lay down the law. Is "The French Connection" the best buddy-cop film ever? Perhaps it doesn't qualify, since Scheider has a lesser part. Maybe "48 HRS" is a better movie. But it avoids the pitfalls of later police dramas, which are too heavily cynical or have unrealistic portrayals of the cops and criminals.

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