Surprisingly good follow-up to the original tough crime drama. Popeye Doyle (Hackman) is sent to Marseilles to unearth Charnier (Rey), the man who got away in the earlier film. Doyle is treated with disdain by French policeman Barthelemy (Fresson), who resents his intrusive,
loud-mouthed, bad-mannered ways. Popeye is decidedly out of place in a setting he does not understand, laboring with a language that proves more difficult each day. He does not know that he is being used as bait by his French counterpart to lure Charnier into the open.
Further complicating matters, Doyle eludes his French police bodyguards in an effort to find his nemesis alone, but only succeeds in getting kidnaped by the drug czar's henchmen. Taken to a sleazy hotel, he is forcibly turned into a heroin addict so that he will tell everything he knows about the
"French connection."
FRENCH CONNECTION II is tightly directed by Frankenheimer, who once again proves that he knows how to direct a suspense thriller. (Just check out THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, or SECONDS if you need further proof.) Hackman once again gives a riveting and believable performance; the
sequences dealing with his withdrawal from heroin presenting a frightening and realistic look at the effects of hard drugs. The whole production is outstanding, in particular Renoir's breathtaking cinematography, Frazee's special effects and Needham's stuntwork. leave a comment
