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Year:	1971
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	William Friedkin
Genre:	Cop tension
Starring:	Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067116/
Tagline:	A $32,000,000 chase turns into the American thriller of the year!
Favourite line:	"This is Doyle. I'm sittin' on Frog One."

Considered by many to be the finest cop movie ever made, I really tried to like this.

The plot:
Marseille, France. A policeman is assigned to stake out a businessman suspected of drug trafficking. Whilst on duty, the policeman is executed.
New York, USA. Two cops, 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy 'We're gonna' need a bigger boat' Schneider) are also on stake out duty. After watching a suspected drug offence, the two swoop in for an arrest and, after mercilessly beating the suspect, details emerge that will lead them into very dangerous waters indeed, with repercussions on both sides of the Atlantic.

It's slick as you like, Friedkin effortlessly blending the stake out dynamic with the more action-oriented scenes.
Hackman and Schneider are both in fine form, playing off one another effectively, a display of such machismo you won't find anywhere outside of an army barracks.
But it's dull.
Crushingly dull.
And I understand the reasons for it.
Friedkin's choice here is to aim for total realism so, when a cop is on a stake out, we are on a stake out, too. Trouble is, for the most part, staking a joint out is terribly boring so, in order to achieve maximum realism, the director has to make the film terribly boring, too.
The soundtrack doesn't help, all crashing cymbals and blaring brass, grating on the nerves of most creatures with sentience.
I'm glad I watched it, but I know for certain I will never watch it again.