May 3, 2009

The Conversation

Title: The Conversation
Year: 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams
Music: David Shire
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound; currently #201 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a paranoid surveillance expert gets too involved with his client
Length: 113 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.5/4 (Very good).

This is the only movie where I've ever been impressed by sound editing.  And the only Gene Hackman movie I can think of off the top of my head where I thought of him as his character rather than Oh Look It's Gene Hackman. It's Coppola's follow-up to Godfather, and probably the best movie he's made since then (I haven't seen Apocalypse Now yet, but I have to doubt that it will live up to its reputation). Why had I never heard of it before I saw it?

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