The French Connection

In 1971, the world was introduced to a different kind of Popeye, one that likes killing cops and robbers more than eating spinach, in William Friedkin's The French Connection. Starring Gene Hackman Fernando Rey, and Roy Scheider, La Connexion Française tells the story of two New York Cops, Popeye and Cloudy, who will do whatever it takes to find, follow, and kill bad guys. And these upstanding law enforcers don't let minor challenges like entrapment, police brutality, racism, and lack of evidence get in their way. No, these men are real NY cops, so they'll follow you for days because you look like a [racist expletive deleted], or barge into a bar for [racist expletive deleted] and lock patrons in phone booths until they get the info they need. Oh, and there's a guy from Marseille (that's in France dummy, thus the name of the movie) who wants to sell $36M of heroin and decides the best way to do it is through a young couple who aren't really connected. Made for $1.8M, TFC pulled in $75M worldwide and was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 5. But does it hold up? Listen as Jon, Colin, and Brent discuss the origins of buddy cop movie cliches, if it is a good idea to end a movie in the middle of a climax, and how much driving and walking to destinations is appropriate for a 104-minute movie as we see if this flick is c'est bon, or shittier than a racist, back shooting, cop killing, asshole named Popeye.