There are a few actors whose presence in a movie causes critics’ faces to light up with enthusiasm. Gene Hackman was one such actor. The Hollywood legend appeared in over 80 movies. Out of these, only 24 have rotten scores on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s an impressive level of critical acclaim and it’s hardly surprising. The actor oozed talent, winning two Oscars, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globes during his career.
Hackman was also loved by the greatest film critic of them all: Roger Ebert. And Martin Scorsese can confirm that once Ebert loved your work, you could do no wrong in his eyes. He’d find something worthy of praising, even when you had done the bare minimum. Well, Hackman hardly ever did the bare minimum. He always put in extra effort (except in Superman IV maybe), so all the praise directed towards him was deserved. Here are Ebert’s favorite movies by the actor.
10
‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001)
Ebert’s Score: 3.5/4
The Royal Tenenbaums follows Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), who feigns terminal illness to reconnect with his three disillusioned gifted children years after abandoning them. They reluctantly let him into their lives, but you can predict the coiled rage will erupt at the tiniest provocation.
Best Original Screenplay Nominee
Ebert praised the movie for being “profoundly silly and loving,“ appreciating how it “exists on a knife edge between comedy and sadness.” Indeed, the characters represent a motley cross-section of personalities. Others have pitiable lives. Others are just fun. To top that, there is a great visceral visual style and subtlety, but it’s Hackman’s performance that keeps you riveted. Today, this remains an indelible, up-to-the-minute portrait of dysfunctional families.
9
‘The French Connection’ (1971)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Forget Mexico and Colombia. The French Connection’s law enforcement hero, Jimmy ‘Poeye’ Doyle (Hackman), and his partner have traced a drug ring to France. Though short-tempered, Doyle will stop at nothing to get the mastermind. But when bureaucracy and bad luck collide, can his resilience endure? Oui!
Hackman’s Magnum Opus
The ’70s hit is best remembered for having one of the greatest chase scenes in cinema. Ebert, in his review, admits this, noting that The French Connection “is not always remembered as what a good movie it is apart from the chase scene.” This multiple Oscar winner is effervescent, brutal, and dynamic. It soars with catchy music, greyish urban cinematography and fortuitous developments. When it’s all over, you will scream, “Merci!”
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8
‘Mississippi Burning’ (1988)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
In Mississippi Burning, FBI agents Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are sent in to investigate a case of missing civil rights workers in a small town. Unfortunately, neither the police nor the local community want to cooperate. This frustrates the two agents, causing them to spar over macho supremacy regarding strategy.
A Moving Tale Captured with Utmost Sensitivity
Ebert ranked Mississippi Burning the number one movie of 1988 (Die Hard fans will disagree), and waxed lyrical, explaining that it is “a movie made from the inside out, a movie that knows the ways and people of its small Southern city so intimately that, having seen it, I know the place I’d go for a cup of coffee and the place I’d steer clear from.” The legendary critic is spot on as the movie often feels like a tour, despite the somber atmosphere. Also, kudos to Peter Biziou, whose lush color cinematography romances Mississippi. This hard-hitting, slow-burning crime thriller is a real treat.
7
‘No Way Out’ (1987)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
No Way Out
- Release Date
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August 14, 1987
- Runtime
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114 minutes
The merry-go-round of passion spins rather quickly in No Way Out, a remake of The Big Clock. The Secretary of Defense (Hackman) is married, but he gets a mistress, who later finds herself attracted to a Navy Lieutenant (Kevin Costner), who is then tasked with investigating her death when she mysteriously dies.
Heartless Hackman
No Way Out’s twists put 24 to shame. No wonder Ebert felt it was “truly labyrinthine and ingenious.” But the story isn’t the only strong pillar. Opulent set designs, sashaying camera movements, and a robust cast that also includes a young Brad Pitt (for a brief moment), outfit this cynical, elegant look at the unpredictable nature of lust and passion. Key lesson: love can be messy.
6
‘The Conversation’ (1974)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Before Francis Ford Coppola started throwing money away like Jesse Pinkman (Holy Megalopolis!), he made some pretty good movies. The Conversation came out the same year as The Godfather: Part II and follows Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), a surveillance expert, who starts worrying that the couple he has been asked to tail is in danger.
Actor and Director at their Peak
In 2001, Roger Ebert added The Conversation to his prestigious “Great Movies” list, describing Hackman’s work as a “career peak” and noting that the movie “comes from another time and place than today’s thrillers, which are so often simple-minded.” Hackman is truly wonderful, proven by the numerous award nominations he received, and the film, as a whole, is infused with forlorn human feeling. But the joy of simply observing characters in their everyday actions is the source of this film’s everlasting, breath-stealing magic.
5
‘Superman’ (1978)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Superman
5
/5
- Release Date
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December 15, 1978
- Runtime
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143 Minutes
We get the standard superhero origin story in Superman. Kal-El gets sent to Earth, then grows up to become the Man of Steel. Soon comes his biggest task: stopping Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) from triggering a massive earthquake using a stolen nuclear missile.
It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane…
Ebert was critical of Marlon Brando’s performance, joking the actor was “paid $500,000 a cliché,” but he loved everything else, describing the DC movie as “a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of.” Will there ever be a better Luthor than Hackman? He’s outstanding, and so is Christopher Reeve. Thanks to the two, the plot, and the visuals, this remains one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.
4
‘Bonnie & Clyde’ (1968)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Bonnie and Clyde
5
/5
- Release Date
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July 18, 1967
- Runtime
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111 minutes
- Director
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Arthur Penn
The story has been told multiple times, but nowhere better than it is here. Bonnie & Clyde introduces us to the young lovebirds Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), who figure crime is the way to go in Depression-era America. It ends with them going down in a hail of bullets, but before that happens, they have some fun, with the assistance of Clyde’s older brother Buck (Hackman).
Honoring Outlaws
One of Arthur Penn’s most enduring works, Bonnie & Clyde was deemed “a milestone in the history of American movies, a work of truth and brilliance,” by Roger Ebert. It is achingly gritty, and, on occasion, almost giddy, thanks to the director’s feel for the transient, reckless lives of the couple. The film is hoisted by Dunaway’s powerful portrayal of the childlike Bonnie, whose naivete and innocence are damaged — but never completely erased — by her love for Clyde. Hackman also offers able support, making this a tragic but entertaining picture that’ll dent even the stiffest of hearts.
3
‘Hoosiers’ (1986)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Hoosiers
4
/5
- Release Date
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November 14, 1986
- Runtime
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114 minutes
- Director
-
David Anspaugh
Before Angelo Pizzo made more popular sports dramas like The Hill and The Game of Their Lives he made this masterpiece, evoking the rugged life of coaches in an unpredictable professional landscape. In Hoosiers, failed college coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gets the opportunity to redeem himself when he is put in charge of the basketball program at an Indiana high school. But his work is hard because a teacher is persuading the star player to focus on classwork.
An Actor Who Knows His Job Well and a Director Who Understands Sports
Through Pizzo’s unsparing lens, we perfectly see daily frustration and the ongoing pain of uncertainty on Hackman’s face. There are many unknown actors but their faces all tell the same story of resilience and despair.
Ebert, too, reiterates this, noting that: “What makes Hoosiers special is not its story but its details and its characters,” adding “Angelo Pizzo knows all about high school politics and how the school board and the parents’ groups always think they know more about basketball than the coach does.” He also has some words about Hackman, declaring that the actor “is gifted at combining likability with complexity — two qualities that usually don’t go together in the movies.”
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2
‘Crimson Tide’ (1995)
Ebert’s Score: 3.5/4
There is the threat of World War III in Crimson Tide. When the crew of the nuclear submarine, USS Alabama, receives conflicting info about Russians, everyone’s initial response is cool. But Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman), his ardor undimmed, suggests the launch of nuclear missiles. This puts him in conflict with the younger Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington).
Clash of Wills
Director Tony Scott’s incredibly good-looking film pairs Hans Zimmer’s powerful music (he won a Grammy for his work here) with splendid, eye-popping imagery. All production elements are incredibly sumptuous, but it’s the filmmaker’s intellectual treatment of the conflict that causes this tide to soar. Hackman and Washington know just how to move for the camera, and we thank them for that. After watching Crimson Tide, Ebert was elated, stating: “This is the rare kind of war movie that not only thrills people while they’re watching it, but invites them to leave the theater actually discussing the issues.”
1
‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Ebert’s Score: 4/4
Unforgiven
5
/5
- Release Date
-
August 7, 1992
- Runtime
-
130 Mins
In Unforgiven, retired gunslinger William Munny (Clint Eastwood) is pulled back in for another job when a tight-knit group of sex workers offers a huge prize for the heads of the idiots who disfigured one of their own. Munny teams up with his old partner, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), but there’s a problem. Sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman) wants no bounty hunters in his town.
Hackman as a Memorable Villain and Eastwood in Top Cowboy Form
You couldn’t ask for a better Western plot than that of this Best Picture winner. There are no noticeable flaws. If there are any, they can be forgiven. Hackman is frightening, and director Eastwood spares nothing in his depiction of a territory he knows all too well. He captures everything beautifully, including the moral aspects, and Roger Ebert was impressed. He wrote: “The implacable moral balance, in which good eventually silences evil, is at the heart of the Western, and Eastwood is not shy about saying so.”
