Walking around in circles

I was gutted when Gene Hackman announced he would retire from acting in 2004. His powerful and charismatic presence enriched such movies as The French Connection, Unforgiven, Absolute Power, No Way Out, Mississippi Burning, Enemy of the State, Narrow Margin and The Package. He never looked like a star. He wasn't the muscular type handsome hero, a common man instead. One of his best and most memorable roles is in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974) where he plays a socially awkward loner, a private operator in surveillance and security business, suffering a guilty conscience over the work he has done over the years. Truly a wonderful thriller, Coppola's personal favourite of his movies. Wanted to watch it immediately again after finishing it.