The French Connection

This gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Ernest Tidyman), and Best Actor (Gene Hackman). Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman) and his partner, Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider), are New York City police detectives ...more

The French Connection became the blueprint for many action films that followed and, as such, is regarded among the most influential films of its era. Oscar winner Gene Hackman plays the prototype psycho cop, overly dedicated to results even when it means disregarding public safety and common sense. His partner (Roy Scheider) is the good cop counterpart, and they are constantly at war with each other, with the bad guys, or, more commonly, both. Unlike Lethal Weapon and other films it influenced, ...more