tomgillespie2002 Adapted from the novel of the same name by George V. Higgins, director Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle takes pride in its authentic depiction of 1970s Boston, where Irish mobsters trade weapons and organise truck hijackings over a diner table. It follows low-level criminal Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle, played by Robert Mitchum, as he faces a lengthy spell in prison for a crime organised by bartender associate Dillon (Peter Boyle). His only hope of avoiding jail time is a recommendation to the District Attorney's office, which may put him good favour with the judge. ATF agent David Foley (Richard Jordan) sees the opportunity to further his own career by promising Eddie he'll put in a good word as long as the career criminal feeds him solid intelligence.Mitchum is perfect as a man who has grown tired of risking his livelihood for his bosses, having grown old with little to show for it other than some extra knuckles gained from having his hand slammed into a drawer by a rival. Coyle is well-connected and reliable, with a keen eye for a good business deal. Yet as his superiors have grown rich, he still lives in a shabby neighbourhood, saving up any pennies he can. He purchases guns from the wild yet competent young gun-runner Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), but sees an opportunity to prove himself useful to Foley, who actually has more informants within Coyle's underworld than the old man realises. Coyle understands that this is his last chance to escape the world he has become weary of, and spend his remaining years enjoying the sunshine. Yet his information never seems to be enough for Foley, and as the rate of successful arrests rapidly increases, it isn't long until his 'friends' become suspicious.The Friends of Eddie Coyle could have only been made in the 1970s, when studios in Hollywood were more open to taking risks and allowed writers to tell the story they wanted to tell. This is about as unsentimental and understated as crime dramas get, shot by cinematographer Victor J. Kemper in a loose style more akin to documentary than thriller. The tone is almost nihilistic at times, mirroring the mindset of the majority of the film's shifty characters. It makes for riveting viewing, with Mitchum delivering one of his finest performances in what was already a muscular career. The supporting cast is excellent too, with both Boyle and Keats utterly convincing as bottom-level scumbags, all of whom seem to exist in a state of constant paranoia and aggression. It will leave you incredibly cold, but only the very best crime sagas expose this dangerous world for what it actually is.

betty dalton This movie starts out with bankrobbers, who as a rule of attack, take hostage of the bankdirectors wife and childeren BEFORE they do the heist. Very suspenseful start indeed. Great groovy soundtrack by Dave Grusin. Great acting. Looks like a real cold blooded gangster heist movie. Robert Mitchum is the leadrole, who plays a hustler providing weapons to the bankrobbers, he is the middle man. That is unfortunately where the movie loses it's edge. Mitchum is bigger than life. The coolest dude on earth. But this story made Mitchum into a married man who wanted to be with his wife in the later years of his life. He got spooky of another prison sentence and wants to play it safe in his older years. That is not the coldblooded Mitchum we knew from other gangster movies. And although it is a more realistic picture of an aging hustler, it isnt very cool looking to see Mitchum wine about married life and do grocery shopping. That is the first let down. The second let down: Snitching on itself is the lowest one can go in the world of gangsters. And this movie is about snitching to save your own ass. Who is gonna snitch on who I wont reveal, but the snitching kinda spoils the fun of a suspenseful start of this heist movie. Why does it get spoiled? Because in the end the snitches are on the winning hand. Snitches never win in gangster movies. They die, they are on the run from being killed or live a meak and sober life in protection. But in "The friends of Edddie Coyle" the word friends is used sarcastically, because Mitchum hasnt got any. And the guys he does know are ratting on him. The snitches win! Terrible! Then Mitchum starts snitching himself too, which is just a disgrace and big letdown, however realistically it may be...To summarize. This is a great heist movie for the first half of it. Even if we forget about the rather peculiar "feminine" Mitchum, then the end where the snitches win, is still a downer. They should have made another ending to the story, wherein the snitches gets wasted and the gangsters win. Now the movie ends on a downer. It could have been a classic, now it is only half way there.

Woodyanders Burn-out minor league gun runner Eddie Coyle (superbly played with lived-in conviction by Robert Mitchum) ekes out a meager existence operating on the fringes of the Boston underworld. Coyle finds himself in a serious bind in which he either does some time in prison or else turns snitch for the authorities, thereby possibly incurring the lethal wrath of his nefarious cohorts.Director Peter Yates relates the gripping story at a leisurely pace, maintains a tough gritty tone throughout, makes excellent use of plain practical locations for extra authenticity (dingy bars, grungy diners, a noisy bowling alley), offers a vivid evocation of an utterly plausible drab, yet sordid workaday milieu, and expertly stages two cracking bank robberies. Paul Monash's astute script provides a very accurate, realistic, and unsentimental depiction of seedy low-life criminals who are strictly out for themselves and possess no code of honor whatsoever. The splendid array of first-rate character actors in colorful roles helps a whole lot: Peter Boyle as amiable bartender and freelance hit-man Dillon, Steven Keats as antsy punk hoodlum Jackie Brown, Richard Jordan as shifty hard-nosed treasury agent Dave Foley, Alex Rocco as the ruthless Scalise, Joe Santos as the scraggly Artie Van, Peter MacLean as hapless bank president Mr. Partridge, Jack Kehoe as Brown's weedy connection, Mitchell Ryan as Foley's stern superior, and James Tolkan as a pushy messenger. Kudos are also in order for Victor J. Kemper's sharp, but unflashy cinematography and Dave Grusin's spare bluesy score. A real corker.

seymourblack-1 The events depicted in this movie seem to unfold so naturally that the experience of watching it is like being an unseen observer amongst a group of people associated with the Boston underground. Maybe this is why it becomes so immersive and seems so realistic. The whole movie is dialogue-driven and features a series of conversations from which it quickly becomes apparent that everyone involved is simply struggling for survival in a dangerous line of work where no-one can be trusted and the consequences of failure can be extreme. The atmosphere is unrelentingly grim and there's no-one involved who could be regarded as either heroic or glamorous.Eddie "Fingers" Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is a small time hood who's facing the prospect of a prison sentence after having been caught driving a truck of illegal liquor for his best friend Dillon (Peter Boyle). As a lifetime criminal on the wrong side of fifty, he can see time running out and is desperate to avoid another term in prison because, at his age, he doesn't think he'll be able to survive the experience. During his time out on bail, he continues his work as a middle-man buying guns from an arrogant young dealer called Jackie Brown (Steven Keats) and selling them on to Jimmy Scalise (Alex Ricco) who's the leader of a gang of bank robbers.The only way open to Eddie to avoid (or at least get a reduction in) his impending sentence, is to become an informer for treasury agent Dave Foley (Richard Jordan) and so, when the opportunity arises, he gives Foley the details of one of Jackie Brown's deals to sell some machine guns to a couple of hippies. After Foley arrests Brown, he turns the screw on Eddie by saying that the judge in his case will need more before he'll consider making any concessions on his sentence. The only other useful information that Eddie's got to trade is the identities of Scalise's gang but when he tells Foley what he knows, it's of no value because the treasury agent has already been given that information by another of his informers (Dillon). With no cards left to play, the prospects for Eddie look bleak as he continues to try to negotiate his way out of the fix that he's in.In a marvellous performance, Robert Mitchum conveys the dignity and desperation of his character who's consumed with fear and yet still tries to operate within the criminal code he respects. His long career in crime has left him mentally and physically exhausted and all his efforts to get out of his current predicament feel increasingly futile. Mitchum's tired-looking demeanour exemplifies the sense of hopelessness that Eddie feels in a way that seems incredibly natural and ultimately makes him a surprisingly sympathetic character. The rest of the cast also turn in consistently strong performances in this memorable crime drama which is gritty, downbeat and full of tension.