The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Trailer—The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Anyone reading the Boston press in 2001 will be shocked to learn how real, how current this film really is. The connection between the FBI and organized crime is serious and is portrayed here with a sense of reality that cannot be matched. Peter Boyle is simply fantastic in his role as a Whitey Bulger character combining hit-man, bartender, informer, and a friend of Eddie Coyle. Why is this great film not on VHS or DVD???

Low level criminal Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is doing a gun deal with a friend. He has many lowlife 'friends'. They take a family hostage and force the manager father to help rob his own bank. It turns out that Coyle is facing major prison time and is working out a deal to sell out his comrades. This is a brutally straight forward crime thriller. There is nothing flashy. Mitchum has a weariness and solidity to his performance. It's great to have no one trust anyone. Normally, a movie gun sale is not that complicated. These characters are smart. There are reasons not to trust anybody because even the cops can't be trusted without a signed agreement. This is a smart movie with smart characters played by smart actors.

What a great movie! One of the most realistic stories of the small-time criminal. Robert Mitchuim gives an outstanding performance as Eddie Coyle, a small-time Irish gangster who works both sides of the fence. Richard Jordan in a fine supporting role as a hard-nosed detective out to burst a gang of well-trained bank robbers. Alex Rocco as a no-nonsense bank robber, and Peter Boyle as the stoolie/hit-man. The movie however is stolen by the late Steven Keats. Keats plays a gun runner who sells machine guns out of the trunk of his sport's car. The friends of Eddie Coyle is extremely well-acted, grittly filmed, and low-key. It has a brutally shocking and surprising ending. An outstanding movie which for some strange reason hasn't found it's way to DVD or video.

The film is, in every aspect, of high quality. Quality acting from supporting actors as well as stars, a quality script and beautifully directed. It is probably Robert Mitchum's best performance, one in which he is well supported by Richard Jordan and Peter Boyle who give wonderfully low-key performances as the other two main protagonists. It is one of my top ten.

A dark character study of an ageing man out of luck and companions, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is about as far away as it gets from the decade's best-known thrillers like THE FRENCH CONNECTION. This one does have its fair share of action, including a number of violent and suspenseful bank robberies, but it's not about them at all, instead an introspective character study of a broken down man and the difficult choices he makes at the end of his life. A lot of the gravitas comes from the thoroughly decent performance of Robert Mitchum in the title role, but the good quality supporting cast - including Peter Boyle and Richard Jordan - doesn't hurt either.

I was lucky enough to catch this on video before they pulled in out of release. It was during Mitchum's last hurrah, when he made interesting character studies like "Farewell, My Lovely." This story is a loser's tale, in the same vein as many of Paul Newman's best films, like "The Hustler" and "Nobody's Fool." Some audiences will have a hard time with the nature of the role because they expect a tough guy like Mitchum to kick into gear at any moment, but he never does because it's not that kind of movie. Rumor has it that director Peter Yates is frequently harassed by friends and collegues who have heard of this gem and tried to get their hands on a copy. Let's hope it comes to DVD soon, so we can all relish one of the great stars in one of his last meaty parts.