For me, this is Francis Ford Coppolas best film. It is a truly superb piece of work and one of the best movies of the 70s. Gene Hackman delivers one of his best ever performances that, alongside the double-slap of Popeye Doyle in The French Connection movies, pretty much hands the decade of 70s cinema over to him. For those not in the know, Hackman plays Harry Caul, a respected but far-from-perfect surveillance expert who cannot shift the all-consuming guilt he feels about two deaths as a result of his previous assignment. When his latest job eavesdropping and subsequently recording a pair of young lovers looks very much like murder is in store for his subjects, Harry decides to stop avoiding the moral consequences of his occupation and try to stop the force that not only hired him for the job but is now working against him in his desire to protect his subjects. An absolute five star unarguable classic, driven by Coppola firing on all cylinders, editor Walter Murch delivering yet another faultless job, David Shire scoring the movie with a mix of Harry Cauls favourite music, jazz, and tension soaked piano pieces. As previously mentioned though, the real heart of the film is Hackman whos climactic snap, mentally, will just about break your heart and knock you back into the seat Coppola has put you on the edge of for the previous 109 minutes!