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The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedkin

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5 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An urban crime thriller which won undeserved acclaim for its efficient but unremarkable elevated-railway chase and its clumsy, showy emphasis on grainy, sordid realism. The performances are strong, although Hackman has done far better than this portrayal of a hard-nosed cop obsessively tracking down a narcotics ring in New York, using methods disapproved of by his superiors. The real problems, however, are that Friedkin's nervy, noisy, undisciplined pseudo-realism sits uneasily with his suspense-motivated shock editing; and that compared to (say) Siegel's Dirty Harry, the film maintains no critical distance from (indeed, rather relishes) its 'loveable' hero's brutal vigilante psychology.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

David said...

Posted on Feb 17 2008 18:16 I think that Friedkin is somewhat harsh. However, the film does contain some basic flaws - how, for instance, after Hackman and crew have ripped apart the 'drugs car' do they put it back together in seconds to hand back to one of the suspects???? Weird.

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David H said...

Posted on Feb 15 2008 02:19 Wow. "Friedkin's nervy, noisy, undisciplined pseudo-realism"....what on earth are you talking about? I mean, "pseudo-realism"?? What does that even mean? Isn't all film peeudo-realism to a greater or lesser extent?
Really, this review is illiterate.
The beautiful lens-flares, the astonishing underground ballet as Hackman and Rey jump on and off the train, the bleak and beautiful backdrops, the immortal portrait of a specific moment in time (this can only be NYC in 1971), all the hot breath in the icy city air, the minimal, suspenseful, Jaws-like theme, the tension, Scheider, the ending, the car demolition scene, the stakeout of the plush restaurant in the freezing cold, the hand-held POV shots...blah, blah, blah,,,,I could go on and on about the wonderful things in this movie.
"Pseudo"? Gimme a break. This movie is a nervy, noisy, undisciplined masterpiece.

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Kaleb said...

Posted on Jan 18 2008 17:52 Over rated during its time and lauded now as a cinematic achievement, French Connection is a movie that marked the first modern car chase but little else in terms of achievement. It's not just slow, it's pedantically nihilistic and a chore to watch. Either Fiddler on the Roof or Clockwork Orange would have been much more deserving of the 1971 Best Picture Oscar, but this movie won on a gimmick. The ending is unsatisfying on every level, although it was probably a mistake to expect any kind of substantial resolution from hours of flat characters chasing each other across the screen in what amounts to a throw away episode of Law and Order.

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Boris said...

Posted on Jan 07 2008 16:15 After reading this review (and, of course, having seen the film before, wich is excelent) I will be in the future very, very cautious with the recommendations or negative critics in the Time Out Film Guide. Not to be entirely trusted; they can be obviously be very far from the truth.

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Ron R said...

Posted on Oct 09 2007 16:54 Thank you for being the only reviewer to give an honest critique of this film at rottentomatoes.com. The movie is disgusting. It wastes ample amounts of time on scenes that go nowhere. The villains keep losing Gene "Popeye" Hackman in painfully drawn out scenes, but Popeye always mysteriously turns up in the next scene. There are lots of scenes that do nothing for the plot. I found myself laughing at how ridiculous this was.

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