Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 movie is one of the most gripping films I've ever seen. Utterly absorbing. Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who'll do anything for anyone who pays him.

He takes on a job that starts out like any other: a few hidden microphones, some recorders, and that's that. But it's not. As the job gets more involved, Caul finds that it's uncovering terrible secrets that threaten powerful people.

Caul tries to stay out of it, and just do what he's hired to, but he can't, because his fingerprints, so to speak, are now obvious. He has to take a side, for the first time ever, or be blown away in the shitstorm to come. 5 stars.