French Connection II

John Frankenheimer may be the best Director that modern Movie Lovers have never heard of. He was always ahead of His time and never compromising. This Movie is surely uncompromising. It took a well known Best Actor Performance from a Best Picture Winner and the Character, Popeye Doyle, and stripped Him of the already barely likable persona of a tough, one dimensional Cop and laid Him open for all to see. It was not a pretty picture.

Neither is French Connection II. It will have you squirming and the Second Act detox is not for anyone with expectation of a slick Action Movie. This is a gritty, dirty, unpleasant Character Study that is compelling Cinema, but not Viewer Friendly. It was taking that Seventies realism just one step further.

It has enough Action and energy to make it as a Thriller but it never lets you forget the painful pursuit of Doyle's obsession with removing H from the Street and the even deeper pain of removing it from your body. This makes this compelling and completely coarse Cinema that makes you pay the price for your Entertainment. Not the best Box-Office formula but it is the stuff of Artistic Angst.