10 Best Movie Private Detectives

9. Harry Caul - The Conversation

Contention on this entry is also expected, if only minimally warranted. Sure, he's not technically a private eye in the strictest of senses, but rather a surveillance expert (isn't that really what a P.I. is, though?) highly regarded in his field. The brilliance of the character, in a script written by Francis Ford Coppola, is that he's conversely obsessed with his own privacy. Always the professional, Caul becomes racked with guilt when a conversation he records leads to the death of three individuals. After editing a series of recordings of the same conversation taken from different vantage points, Caul begins to notice tones and undercurrents that start to trouble him. Throughout the film, he continues to refine the recordings, uncovering new nuances in the conversation. When he uncovers the phrase "He'd kill us if he got the chance," Caul is placed in a moral dilemma and forced to ask himself if he can continue to keep himself removed from his work.
Contributor
Contributor

While studying English and Philosophy at Rutgers University, Andrew worked as a constant contributor to the The Rutgers Review. After graduating in 2010, he began working as a free-lance writer and editor, providing his input to numerous areas including reviews for the New York Film Series, The Express-Times, and private script and story consulting. He is currently the Director of Film Studies at The Morris County Arts Workshop in New Jersey and publishes essays on the subject of film and television at his blog, The Zoetrope.