Metacritic Film

French Connection, The (re-release)

Starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frédéric de Pasquale, Bill Hickman, and Ann Rebbot

MPAA RATING: R

Two Boots Pioneer Theater
Suspense/Thriller
104 minutes | Color
USA
Released In Theaters March 5, 2003

Based on what was then the largest heroin bust in U.S. history, 1971's The French Connection raised the bar for crime dramas, chase scenes and all the details that deliver what an authentic New York story looks and feels like. (Two Boots Pioneer Theater)

WRITTEN BY
Ernest Tidyman
Robin Moore (novel)

DIRECTED BY
William Friedkin

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

96 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Chicago Tribune
There is only one problem with the excitement generated by this film. After it is over, you will walk out of the theater and, as I did, curse the tedium of your own life. I kept looking for someone who I could throw up against a wall. [8 November 1971]
90 The New York Times Roger Greenspun
The French Connection is a film of almost incredible suspense, and it includes, among a great many chilling delights, the most brilliantly executed chase sequence I have ever seen. [8 October 1971]
90 TV Guide Staff (Not credited)
This tough, brilliant crime film features Hackman as the indefatigable Popeye Doyle, who passionately hates drug pushers.
90 Variety Staff (Not credited)
Producer and screenwriter have added enough fictional flesh to provide director William Friedkin and his overall topnotch cast with plenty of material, and they make the most of it.

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