THE CONVERSATION (1974) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Francis Ford Coppola
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield,
Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Teri Garr,
Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Harrison Ford
Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a professional eavesdropper who becomes obsessed with a conversation he's recorded that could be a clue to a murder. A tense, paranoid variation on "Blow-Up", directed by Coppola at his peak, between the first and second "Godfather" pictures. Hackman looks so ordinary in this, he's practically invisible. A balding, middle-aged man in glasses and a dime-store raincoat, Harry's the last guy you'd ever pick out in a crowd. That's the idea, of course, and it's hard to remember another case of an actor playing a character so nondescript, and making it so compelling.
