13 Gene Hackman Movies You Need to Watch
No one ever did it quite like Gene Hackman. The legendary actor, who died at age 95, hadn't appeared on movie screens since 2004's Welcome to Mooseport, but you could feel what he did just about everywhere. Hackman made every character his own; he was a gruff guy who could also be scary, but who knew how to capture the emotional core of any person in any situation, no matter how good or bad of a guy he otherwise seemed to be.
Hackman never had the classic good looks of a Robert Redford or a Brad Pitt, and that's part of what made him such a singular force on screens. Because he looked like one of us, and acted like us, Hackman's characters felt like one of us too. As Julia Louis-Dreyfus wrote in her tribute post, 'he played imperfect people perfectly.'
Each character he played had to be crafted, piece-by-piece, character beat by character beat, into a unique, one-of-a-kind creation. And the industry, and everything that came after, always followed suit. The cops you've loved to see operate in shades of gray – not good nor bad, necessarily – in movies and on TV in the last several decades wouldn't be the same without The French Connection or Night Moves. Shows like Arrested Development and Succession wouldn't be the same without The Royal Tenenbaums. And the list goes on and on and on.
Despite the fact that his last two decade on this earth took place off screens (with the exception of a surprise appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), Hackman was a constant presence in the lives of movie fans everywhere – because his work is just that good. Gene Hackman isn't someone you see and go 'oh, that guy!' – he's someone who blows you away whether you're sitting down to watch one of his two Academy Award-winning roles for the first time, or flipping through channels and find a pulpy thriller or broad comedy that's halfway through. Hackman remains present, always, because the films (and, of course, his performances in them) are just that good.
In honour of Hackman's life and career, we've pulled together a list of the films anyone can and should watch to understand what made him such a special performer. As soon as you check them out (or, likely for many of these, rewatch them), there should be very few questions left to ask.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
With all due respect to Brian Cox in Succession, no one has ever played the narcissistic patriarch of a dysfunctional family like Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson's film follows the extended Tenenbaum family (with a cast that also includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, and Owen Wilson) through their trials and tribulations when their deceptive, self-centered father returns with a claim that his life is coming to an end. It's one of Anderson's greatest films, and the kind of movie that has clearly felt its influence in culture for decades, in shows like Arrested Development and in allowing Anderson to establish his signature style.
The Conversation (1974)
In-between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola made The Conversation – just, casually, another one of the greatest movies ever made. This film follows a surveillance expert (Hackman) who, while snooping, overhears something he shouldn't have, and gets lost in a twisty, turny web of darkness and deception. It's tense, and you can feel Hackman's paranoia radiating from through the screen. Once you watch this, you can also check out Enemy of the State, the 1998 Tony Scott film where Hackman once again returned to a movie about the terrors of the surveillance complex.
The French Connection (1971)
Cop movies changed forever when The French Connection came out in 1991. The movie not only helped establish Hackman as one of the industry's strongest performers and biggest names, but it also helped make the cop who lives in between good and bad into a genre mainstay. Oh, and it has one of the greatest car chase sequences ever put to film. The French Connection won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (for the late William Friedkin), and Best Actor (for Hackman), and you'll never hear a single human alive complain about a single one of those – which, in this day and age, speaks volumes.
Get Shorty (1995)
One thing about Hackman that's a little underrated? He was very funny, and put those skills to use frequently in the later part of his career. Get Shorty is a sort of Tarantino-esque comedy thriller about a gangster named Chili Davis (John Travolta) who turns into a movie producer kind of by happenstance. Hackman plays the schlubby filmmaker who Chili chases down to collect some major debts. The movie's primary players (including Travolta, Hackman, Danny DeVito, Rene Russo, and Delroy Lindo) bounce off of each other with ease, and Get Shorty (based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name) becomes one of the more fun movies of the '90s.
Unforgiven (1992)
Hackman won his second Oscar for Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood's late career masterpiece revisionist western that looks back at his decades past in the genre (while still being a brilliant, thrilling movie). Hackman plays one of his most terrifying roles as Sheriff 'Little Bill' Daggett, a sociopathic and ruthless killer whose treachery forces an old former outlaw (Eastwood himself) to return to his old violent ways. Eastwood has always claimed this would be his final traditional western, and what a way to go out? Once you get through this one, we have good news: Hackman plays a very similar (and also tremendous) role in Sam Raimi's western The Quick and the Dead. You're welcome.
Night Moves (1975)
Night Moves is hardly the most famous movie on Hackman's IMDb page, but it's without question one of the most unique and interesting. Director Arthur Penn helped use Hackman's unique persona and star power to build a neo-noir mystery around a former football player turned private investigator looking for a missing teenage girl before finding himself in a deeply bizarre web of seriously messed up and violent stuff. If you've enjoyed movies like The Nice Guys or even Fargo, you'll probably have a fun time taking a plunge down this wild wormhole.
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Hackman earned yet another Oscar nomination (he totaled five in his career) for Mississippi Burning, a 1964-set film loosely based on true events, where he and Willem Dafoe play FBI agents investigating the murders of civil rights activists in the deep south, coming face-to-face with locals, the police, and the KKK.
The Firm (1993)
Hackman was always good, but he seemed to kick things into a different gear when he got the chance to play against some of the other greats. Case in point: The Firm, where Hackman goes balls-out in this legal conspiracy thriller playing mentor to new lawyer Tom Cruise. The film is based on the John Grisham movie of the same name, but let's be real it wouldn't be called 'The Firm' if said firm wasn't doing something shady, would it? The Firm is long, at 2.5 hours, but it's one of the most engaging and exciting legal thrillers you'll ever see and comes with a stacked cast even beyond Hackman and Cruise. And once you're done, we've got some good news: Hackman also starred in Runaway Jury, a 2003 adaptation of another Grisham bestseller.
The Replacements (2000)
Let's also level with you for a second. Part of what made Hackman such a fun and unique star was that it wasn't all Oscar-contending fare and super serious dramas – the man knew how to have fun. Case in point: The Replacements, where he played the head coach of a professional football team made up entirely of replacement players during a strike (aka, well, scabs). Is The Replacement high art? No, certainly not. Is it a super fun film you'll watch every time it's ever on and have a blast? Yes!
Crimson Tide (1995)
Just like we said with The Firm, there was just something about Hackman going toe-to-toe with the greats that really helped him elevate his game to a high that topped his usual legendary basemark. Crimson Tide, which comes from Tony Scott (one of the best action movie directors of all time), pits Hackman against Denzel Washington aboard a nuclear submarne in a stand-off situation that mirrors something that actually happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Do we need to say any more?
No Way Out (1987)
Hackman plays the villain to Kevin Costner's naval hero in the neo-noir conspiracy thriller No Way Out, which is just one of the more underrrated movies in either man's repertoire. We recommend checking this one out if you're looking for a fun ride that will have you pumping your fist from the couch (and unable to look away).
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Night Moves director Arthur Penn and Hackman worked together for the first time in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, which earned Hackman his first Academy Award nomination for playing Buck Barrow, the older brother of Warren Beatty's Clyde (they would go on to work together one last time, on 1985's Target). Even in one of his earliest roles, it was clear that Hackman had a unique talent in bringing imperfect and strangely human characters to screen with both an intensity and tenderness that would be hard for anyone to ever match.
The Birdcage (1995)
While Hackman became an incredibly acclaimed actor through the course of his lengthy career, he actually started in improv comedy – which made The Birdcage a perfect full circle moment for him when it was released in 1995. Directed by the legendary Mike Nichols (director of The Graduate and an improv master himself), The Birdcage follows a gay couple (Nathan Lane and Robin Williams) who have to pretend to be straight when their son announces he's going to get married to the daughter of a conservative senator (played by Hackman to a satirical delight). This movie is just a really enjoyable, funny time for anyone.
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