Poor Man’s The Departed. It’s possible that The French Connection hasn’t aged well or that newer movies learned from is mistakes, but The Departed is just better at everything this movie tries to do.
★★☆☆☆
Sometimes, I wish I liked a movie more than I did. I spend time trying to get people to talk me into it liking it. I keep hoping I missed something that would help turn my opinion around. Sometimes, I just don’t find it. I was really excited when William Friedkin’s 1971 classic The French Connection showed up on my assignment list. I wasn’t as excited when I sat down to actually write this review.
The story is that of NYPD cop ‘Popeye’ Doyle played by Gene Hackman as he tries to track down the lynchpins in a heroin smuggling ring. It is based on real life events but all the characters are re-imaginings or composites of real people. It’s a pretty straightforward plot driven by Doyle’s obsession with nailing the guys responsible for this.
Unfortunately, this mostly leads to him following french guys around New York City. We learn little about Doyle’s past or motives except they he was apparently responsible for the death of his partner. Eventually, the french people notice Gene Hackman hanging around and decide to try and shoot him. It leads to the famous chase sequence and the only part of the film I really enjoyed. But even the scene is a little unsatisfying because it takes an epic chase to track down a henchman.
Finally, and I will tread lightly here as I don’t want to get near spoiler territory, but the film tries to pull off an ending that it hadn’t earned. I really appreciate what Friedkin was trying to do with the finale, but it just came from nowhere and left me totally unsatisfied. The ending is actually the beginning to a way more interesting movie.
This film felt incredibly slow to me. I feel this way about a lot of the 1970’s auteur-driven movies. I try really hard to appreciate the era for ushering in new kinds of movies and for empowering the creative people behind the scenes instead of the studios. I love movies like The Graduate and Harold and Maude. But when the subject turns to anything that relies on action (war, cops, mafia), I always find myself wishing for a little-bit more. I’ve tried to watch them each and even given a few of them a second chance. I wish I loved The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and The French Connection. I really do.
The French Connection is available on Netflix
Next week, David will be reviewing T2: Judgement Day because its a travesty that he hasn’t seen it.
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