Night Moves (1975)

The 1970s are when Hackman established himself as not just a great actor but a movie star capable of carrying a film on his own, with acclaimed performances like his Oscar-winning turn in The French Connection and his legendary work as surveillance expert Henry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation. But my favorite Hackman film from this period is Night Moves, a morally slippery, sun-dappled Hollywood neo-noir from Bonnie and Clyde director Arthur Penn. Hackman is at his most enjoyably complex here as Harry Moseby, a football player turned private eye who’s hired by an aging actress to find her missing teenage daughter Delly, played by Melanie Griffith. As his pursuit of Delly takes him into the shadowy underbelly of the film industry and beyond, Moseby is also coming apart at the seams due to problems in his marriage. Be warned, you won’t find a traditional whodunit and a conventionally satisfying conclusion here; Night Moves has other things on its mind. It’s a distinctly 1970s American film—disillusioned, ambiguous, rich with character and fantastic dialogue—and it demonstrates why Hackman was an ideal actor for this fascinating era in American cinema. — Carolyn Petit

Where to stream it: TCM