Synopsis
"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.
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Cast
- Gene Hackman"Popeye" Doyle
- Fernando ReyAlain Charnier
- Bernard FressonHenri Barthélémy
- Philippe LéotardJacques
- Ed LauterGeneral William Brian
- Charles MillotMiletto
- Jean-Pierre CastaldiRaoul
- Cathleen NesbittThe Old Lady
- Samantha LlorensDenise
- André PenvernBartender
Recommendations
- 100
Entertainment Weekly
French Connection II is not exactly a fun flick (there’s a harrowing sequence where the bad guys shoot Hackman full of heroin, for example), but in its own twisted way it’s something of an art film — perhaps the most profoundly absurdist and pessimistic detective film ever made. - 80
Time Out
Hackman takes the enlarged role by the scruff of the neck and delivers yet another fine performance of doubt and the dawning awareness of his own weakness. Frankenheimer directs in taut, pacy fashion to keep the suspense high. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Surprisingly good follow-up to the original tough crime drama. - 70
The New York Times
The concerns of French Connection II are not much different from those of old Saturday-afternoon movie serials that used to place their supermen in jeopardy and then figure ways of getting them out. The difference is in the quality of the supermen and in their predicaments. - 70
Variety
Hackman’s performance is another career highlight, ranging from cocky narc, Ugly American, helpless addict, humbled ego and relentless avenger. - 63
Chicago Sun-Times
The plot, the pursuit, the quarry, are all forgotten during Hackman's one-man show, and it's a flaw the movie doesn't overcome. - 60
IGN
Director Frankenheimer does his best to keep the film moving, and he succeeds admirably in the final act, but the 90 minutes of dreck that precede the finale are of little interest, perhaps even tainting one's enjoyment of the first film, which is something no sequel should ever do. - 60
Newsweek
If the movie ultimately doesn't work, this can be said in Frankenheimer's defense: that, with every right and probably much pressure to do so, he refused to rip off The French Connection as so many films with other names already had. [26 May 1975, p.84]
