Gene Hackman's greatest performance ever comes courtesy of William Friedkin's The French Connection, a gritty and frantically-paced police procedural that perfectly blends elements of the crime flick with that of an action movie (remember the epic car chase?). Hackman's iconic character, one Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, will do whatever it takes to get results - he sees breaking the law as a necessary evil if it means putting the right men behind bars. Set in the horrible, run-down New York of the '70s exemplified by so many movies made in the same period (seriously: what a hell hole it is), The French Connection took home the Oscar for Best Picture back in 1974, and was the first R-Rated movie to do so. The plot focuses on Popeye's attempts to capture a French drug smuggler, as he exposes a criminal syndicate with his partner, Buddy Russo, played by Roy Scheider in an underrated turn.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
