Actor of the day: Gene Hackman

Looking at Two-Word Titles

Note: I started writing this two weeks ago, not realizing how relevant it would be! RIP Gene Hackman.

We were woefully unprepared for one layer of the Movie Pyramid the other day: Gene Hackman x Two-word Title.

Putting aside The Conversation (1974) , The Birdcage (1996), or Superman II (1980), what can you do off the top of your head?

I’m currently fixated on my three recent Hackman acquisitions, none of which work for this clue.

• All Night Long (1981)- I learned about it in Barbra Streisand’s autobiography. It scores well for both of them.

• Twilight (1998)- This is a different Twilight, co-starring Susan Sarandon and Paul Newman! Plus Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito and Liev Schreiber!!

• Antz (1998)- This cast leaves me speechless: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken!!! You’re welcome.

Back to the task at hand.

Gene Hackman x Two-word Title

Class Action (1991)

I really enjoyed reading all the taglines for this movie.

• For the plaintiff… Jedediah Tucker Ward. For the defense… Margaret Eleanor Ward. Nothing personal.

• It’s just father vs. daughter, in the fight of their lives.

• A father and a daughter, divided by a case, endangered by the truth.

This movie is about a liberal activist lawyer (Hackman) who goes up against his conservative corporate lawyer daughter (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) in court. Very 90s in the sense that it also features Laurence Fishburne and Fred Thompson, but based on that one sentence description, maybe quite contemporary? What if Hackman was representing someone hurt by United Health and his daughter was United’s defense attorney?

Extreme Measures (1996)

Hackman and Hugh Grant? Sign me up.

I’ve never heard of this, nor seen it pop up in MovieGrid and it feels like an important acquisition for the game.

Hugh Grant, a British doctor working in NYC, suspects foul play at his hospital, caused by eminent surgeon Gene Hackman. As he digs deeper, he finds himself in more danger.

Important cast members also include Sarah Jessica Parker and J.K. Simmons. I always need more J.K. Simmons options!

Lucky Lady (1975)

This movie came across my radar when David and Griffin briefly mentioned it on the Blank Check podcast. Apparently it was a very chaotic film set. Hackman, Minnelli, Reynolds, and Donen? Say less. Plus it’s about booze smugglers during Prohibition. I will be watching.

And finally, The Package (1989).

Hackman is a Green Beret sergeant, who has to escort a prisoner, Airborne Ranger Tommy Lee Jones, back to the US. When Jones escapes, Hackman must risk life and limb to catch him.

I don’t know how Joanna Cassidy factors into this plot, but it also includes John Heard, Dennis Franz, and Pam Grier. I want to watch to find out which bad guys we were fixated on in the 1980s. I assume the Soviet Union.

May you honor Gene Hackman’s memory with great MovieGrid answers. I will be busy tracking down how to stream Extreme Measures.