Although this movie robbed a Clockwork Orange of the Oscar in 1971 it is defiantly not undeserving by any means. It is a slowed paced, gritty crime drama which still stands the test of time today. Sure here are some problems with this film but in total it was not a terrible effort.
A stand out feature was the absolutely superb acting. Gene Hackman is absolutely amazing as "Popeye" Doyle the rough , aging crime detective. He is by far the standout performer of this movie, since he truly does capture the spirit and essence of his character. Scheider also was great in his role as Doyle's partner. They make quite a good team and the chemistry they share is top notch.
The plot in this one is gripping and filled with tension. It may be slow paced but it is extremely well told and exciting if you truly are paying attention. I found it worked better and the holes in the plot weren't as noticeable if you pictured this movie as a bunch of loosely strung together series of vignettes. Doing this it is easy to fall into the story without seeing the gaping plot holes.
The plot holes in this movie are big but they are not quite enough to ruin the movie for me. Some of the major plot holes for me had to be how Fernando Ray's character manages to escape the bridge. For one it is not a huge bridge why not just surround the thing(I for one thought that they had done that but when they turned around, nope! he was able to make a break for it.) Another hole is how they manage to rip apart a huge car and put it back together with absolutely no damage in under 5 hours. This would be an impossible feat. There are a couple others I cannot recall at this moment. Again these are small plot holes that don't ruin the movie only damper in the final results of the film.
What really works for me is what I think one of the main themes is, the differences between the rich and the poor. This is shown well in the constant juxtapositions between the two classes. (ie Popeye eating pizza in that shoe repair shop while like 50 feet away a bunch of people eat like kings and queens and eye the dessert cart. Another example is how Popeye lives in a dumpy apartment while Weinstock has a nice Hollywood Esq hotel room.
Finally probably the most talked about part in this whole movie, the car chase scene. It is absolutely phenomenal. A work of pure cinematic genius and superb editing. No one was told about the scene being shot that day so the frenzy it causes is totally real and it really shows.(although the producers did pay for the man's car which was smashed.) Another factor which feeds into the excitement of the car chase is the fact that this movie moves rather slow so when this car chase happens you really get the adrenalin pumping. This is a car chase that goes down as one of the best and it truly is.
French Connection the often imitated is one that will go down in film history(I am sure it is already). This movie manages to not get ruined by it's plot holes that often plague it's genre mates through it's suburb acting performance by the great Gene Hackman and it's strong writing. This gritty crime drama is one you would not if you are a fan of police/detective movies. Hell you should not miss this movie if you care about cinema at all.
83/100 B
-Hutz
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