And it doesn't matter what era whether it's 1967's Bonnie and Clyde or 2003's Runaway Jury, unlike other actors who get better/worse, he's at the top of his game always. What the heck is that?!

I never found him too likable. In fact, I've never seen Crimson Tide or Enemy of the State because he was in them. Granted I have liked some of his performances but likable isn't a word that I would use to describe Gene Hackman.

Because he is one of your favorite actors.


and rightfully so

He can tackle almost any role and brings a sense of reality to the character he's playing.

Me too. IMO he has one of the strongest screen presences of all-time. That is why he is so "likeable". I really can't explain it, he just has total command over the screen. For the guy above to see he avoided movies because he is in them, is just absurd.

The only thing negative I can say about Hackman is that the latter half of his career was a disappointment and I general try to forget about the last decade of his career (Tenenbaums aside). When I think of Hackman I think of my favorite film of his (Night Moves) & all of his truly great work, The Conversation, Prime Cut, French Connection, Unforgiven. I never associated him with movies like Enemy of the State or Behind Enemy Lines although I understand why most here would.

He's likable. Check out 'Twilight' w Newman, Gartner & Sarandon. Plays a Hollywood a$$hole but you end up liking him. He's one one of my favorite actors to watch.

Even when he plays bad guys, he's likable. Just check out SUPERMAN and GET SHORTY. (Was he a bad guy in SHORTY? I can't recall. But he was likable.)

Better yet, CISCO PIKE (1971). He plays a dick of a cop in that one. He steals a huge amount of pot and forces Kris Kristofferson, a down-on-his-luck former rock star with some drug busts on his record, to sell it for him, all in one weekend, and the film follows Kris' efforts to do that as he moves through various L.A. subcultures. At the end, we find out Hackman's motivation and it's quite poignant. We feel for him, although he's still a dick for putting Kris under this unconscionable pressure.

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never heard of this . sounds good will have to check it out.

I don't see a big problem with Hackman's later career. There's a few misses but he was always great in everything. It's not like Pacino or Deniro's later work.

I think people focus on his last two films: Runaway Jury and Welcome to Mooseport. He went out on a low note (although he was still quite funny in Mooseport), compared to one of the best, if not THE best performance of his career in The Royal Tenenbaums.

I liked him a lot in Tenenbaums, but lets not go nuts, its not even in his top 5 best performances. I was not speaking for his last 2 films, but for most of his last decade as an actor. He was in a ton of paint-by-the-numbers boring films that wasted his talent. Enemy of the State, whatever that awful Will Smith film was (I know everyone here will love that one), Heartbreakers (Jason Lee, I know everyone will love that here too), Runway Jury, that pedestrian Newman flick, The Replacements, and a few others. Heist was decent, but really he never had a run or even a role that matched his earlier output. Also, outside of Tenenbaums, I never like him when he attempted humor or lighter roles.

Bingo.

Because he looks like Hokeyboy

How funny months ago I was thinking about Gene Hackman and how much I found him so cool and likable too.

Cool topic.

it's because he's the reason for Popeye's fast-food chains.

Hackman is one of the greatest actors of all-time, period. He exudes such a cool, calm demeanor on screen that you don't think of him as an actor working on a film; it feels like he lives in the world he's playing in. I had always thought he was a great actor until I saw "The Conversation", then I knew he was a phenomenal actor.

True, I prefer him in these :

The Conversation
Mississippi Burning
The French Connection
The French Connection II
Unforgiven
Bonnie and Clyde
I Never Sang for My Father
The Package
Scarecrow
Night Moves

He was also great in the small role in Young Frankenstein

Hackman is one of my favorites. One of his movies that is a personal favorite of mine that doesn't get alot of mention is Narrow Margin. Very exciting action thriller and Hackman's character wasn't even a law enforcement officer, but a DA.

Yep that's who i was thinking when i said Hackman was great through all eras.

Because he was going to make espresso.

I liked Enemy of the State and Narrow Margin and alot of others that's been named. Hoosiers, Downhill Racer, Split Descisions, Full Moon in Blue Water, The Package, Bite the Bullet. I've never seen Dominoe Principle, March or Die or Prime Cut.

One I liked that never gets named is Riot.

Really? You hate Gene Hackman so much that you wouldn't see Crimson Tide? You're really missing out then because it's a cool film with some great tension and one of the best scores of the 90s courtesy of Hans Zimmer.

I'm always impressed by just how intimidating and badass Hackman can be, purely off of attitude, because physically who would ever be afraid of him?

^he's definitely a blueprint how to pull that off.