The Conversation
The Varsity Cinema, one of ZEJ’s favorite local Des Moines theaters, played this recently after Gene Hackman’s death, and E added it to our list as a result, but I would have been okay if she hadn’t. We tried to watch this twice, and both times I fell asleep. Amazingly, it was nominated for Best Picture in 1974, and it’s a wonder people could make it through this one, but I guess I chalk it up to this was pre-internet and boredom drove people to more tedious forms of the cinema medium. If despite all that, the Gene Hackman / Francis Ford Coppola still intrigues you, this movie does have a good premise, and the ending is amazing. But hats off to you if you can get there.
-Z
This score might be somewhat impacted by the fact that Z and I had to split this up over two viewings due to the movie putting us to sleep, but I truly do not understand how The Conversation is so well regarded. I found much of the movie incredibly slow - and that is not a complaint I often make! The intensity of the last few scenes save it a little, but not nearly enough to warrant its critical acclaim I’d say.
-E
