8. The Conversation

Did Gene Hackman ever have hair? Well not in 1974 that's for sure.

Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman I was expecting big things from The Conversation.

It pretty much delivers but in an unremarkable way- this seems mainly due to the technology at hand, both narratively speaking and how the film is shot, edited and scored. At times it is painfully slow but Hackman's central performance is top notch as the paranoid and introspective Harry Caul.

The film actually seems longer than it's 113 minutes running time and features a nice turn from Harrison Ford as the head honchos mysterious assistant. Overall, a quality thriller.