This is one of those classic paranoia thrillers of the 1970's. It's also fairly timely, still, given the great uproar lately about NSA wiretapping. As usual, you have more to fear from private industry than you ever will from your government.Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a professional eavesdropper. He is hired by companies to bug people and report back, whether it's corporate espionage or cheating spouses. Because of this, Harry is a severe paranoiac, incapable of sustaining relationships. We call this the burden of knowledge. Not having someone to talk to becomes a serious issue when Harry begins to suspect that the couple he has been hired to listen to (Cindy Williams and Micheal Higgins) are going to get murdered.
My problems with this movie begin and end with Harry Caul. At no point during his crisis of conscience does he ever pick up the phone and call the police. Incidentally, should you at some point overhear something that sounds like it will result in the death of another person, you should immediately CALL THE POLICE. If not, you could be considered an accessory. So I have zero sympathy for this character, since he dug his own grave. Plus, he's just unlikeable.
However, this movie does have an incredibly young (pre-Han Solo) Harrison Ford as the creepy Director's Assistant. It's nice to see him looking so baby-faced and also playing against type. Otherwise, I can't really recommend it.
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