Gene Hackman is one of the most outstanding actors to ever walk onto the screen. He’s played so many memorable parts that I really had to think hard on just which ones to introduce. These are my favorites that he’s performed keep in mind, so if you have any others that you would like to add I’m always in the mood to heart it. The unfortunate part of all this is that Hackman is retired now and is pursuing the role of a novelist, which hopefully he’ll do well at. If he does as well at writing as he did at acting he’ll be a sure hit, though the two worlds are vastly different. I do wish him well though and hope he enjoys his retirement.
If he ever came back I would only hope that he’d take on the same kind of roles that made him famous.
5. The French Connection-Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle
Doyle was not a nice guy but he got the job done. His whole job as a detective was to make the lives of those he pursued miserable by dispensing justice when it was allowed and dogging those that would break the law whenever he could. Doyle and his partner Cloudy were onto what could have amounted to a major drug bust but of course things kind of went off the rails and the main bad guy got away.
4. Hoosiers-Norman Dale
It really seems like no one wanted Norman there at first and that might have been a fair assessment. But the truth was that he was doing far more good for the Hoosiers than anything that they’d been doing to that point. More so, the star athlete of the team eventually came back and stopped the town from firing Norman by stating that if Norman was gone he wouldn’t play any longer.
3. The Replacements-Jimmy McGinty
Jimmy McGinty was anything but a conventional guy. He put together a team made up of what others would call rejects and turned them into a team that finally came together and showed that they had what it took to win. While they weren’t the first pick for anyone else they were on his squad because they had something offer. I kind of wonder if this is the direction the NFL might be headed.
2. Runaway Jury-Rankin Fitch
You’re a mean one, Mr. Fitch. Sorry, I know the season’s over but I had to do it. Fitch is the guy that rich folks call when they know there’s a chance that they might lose a case and a buttload of money in the process. He weeds out those people that he thinks aren’t right for a jury and squeezes those that he knows he can in order to get the verdict the clients want.
1. Enemy of the State-Edward “Brill” Lyle
If Fitch is mean, then Brill is downright scary. The guy invented a lot of the earlier hardware that the people coming after him and Bobby are using, and he knows the ins and outs of the NSA without question. He might be a little rusty after so much time away but it’s not just anyone that can be a thorn in the side of one of the most intelligent agencies in the country.
Enjoy your time away Mr. Hackman, you’ve earned it.
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