I’m with you Cory, it is a gem and perhaps Mitchum’s last really great performance.
it’s definitely his last great performance. which in my opinion is a good thing-go out with a healthy bang in a film you can appreciate for the craft, not the pay off.
it’s also a film that makes you remember that Peter Boyle was a force to be reckoned with before his stint as a geriatric on Everybody Loves Raymond.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is indeed underrated. But I wouldn’t be so sure that it contains Mitchum’s last great performance. I also like his work in The Yakuza and, especially, Farewell, My Lovely.
It’s always going to be a measure of Mitchum. The Boston accent is tough and he handles it pretty damn well. Some of the best dialog you are going to hear.
I can’t help but comparing it to Nicholson who didn’t even try the Boston in “The Departed”
Yates has a nice easy realism as a director. Doesn’t push it. Look at the car chase in “Bullitt”, no pyrotechnics and it’s still the best (sorry Friedkin).
I gotta see this movie again. This movie and the Yakusa are two of my favorite Bob Mitchum movies.
exactly DOINEL. the simplicity of the action sequences and the incredible dialogue make it some worth appreciating-genre be damned. yates had a good sense of what people really wanted from crime/action films. there has to be a sense of realism in the film or, in my opinion, it just isn’t authentic enough to be passed as plausible.
not to say I don’t mind the eye popping special effects in, let’s say, a TRANSFORMERS, but I can really appreciate the kind of action sequences being presented in THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE because they were done minimally as to not overdramatize the film.
It is underrated but its not one of the great crime films either in my opinion. Its a film that should be more widely seen, and it features some really good, gritty performances; but I don’t think it is among the better crime films out there.
Jason, what do you think are some of the great crime films?
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle, but I know that I need to revisit it soon. It’s been a lot longer since I read the novel, but I remember my reaction to it, because my mother recommended it to me. I was surprised that she liked it, because an Agatha Christie mystery was the sort of book that she usually liked. I believed that the novel was a fairly accurate portrayal of the world of small-time criminals because George V. Higgin’s background made him an expert on the subject, and the movie seems to have that same reputation.
The movies tend to glamorize criminals, as they glamorize just about everything else. I think that The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a great crime film because it shows us a small-time crook trying to make a living doing what he knows how to do, without glamour, sugar-coating or an attempt to pretend that it is portraying “important” events.
The Boston Globe review of the Criterion DVD praised the movie for its location shooting that captured some less glamorous Boston neighborhoods, including a scene that occurs at Boston Bowl. My family stayed at one of the motels on that property when we were on vacation several years ago, but I didn’t recall that it appeared in the movie. It will be fun to see that scene, and to remind my wife of our stay there.
I wish that it were a little longer and gave me a little more to chew on.
What are the great crime films?
Rififi
Le Deuxeme Souffle
I found “Eddie Coyle” to be rather bland. Certainly not in the ranks of the greatest crime films.
A while ago I really had my mind set on seeing this, but for some reason it just got overshadowed by bigger priorities. I really need to see this soon.
I haven’t seen Le Deuxieme Souffle yet, but I agree that Rififi is a great crime film.
Le Deuxieme Souffle is a tremendous crime film, along Le Doulos, Le Samourai, and Le Cercle Rouge. I consider those essentials to the crime genre. Deffinately check out.
I had a hard time figuring out why it deserved the Criterion treatment. I had a hard time getting through the whole thing and was disappointed in most of the film, other than the acting. The best thing about the film is the ironic title if you ask me. “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”
I do agree that Le Doulos is a brilliant crime-noir film. It may be one of the blueprints for how to make a movie of that genre correctly, but when it comes to Eddie Coyle I feel it’s too different to compare to those films.
Eddie Coyle forces you to live in those neighborhoods, be a part of that lifestyle-and it’s all done through intimate shots of a gritty reality faced by our hero(anti-hero) Eddie Coyle. He is literally a walking, talking example of blue collar American; an small time ex con who realizes the axe is coming down hard on him, and he doesn’t have enough time left to stand one more blow.
It’s a movie that is at the heart of all of us-when does the price of loyalty become too expensive?
I was expecting this to be a quirky comedy about middle-aged buddies. Let me say, big disappointment.
George Higgins was a very fine writer and the dialog really comes through here.
Plus the bar where Boyle is bartending was The Kentucky Tavern and it is sorely missed.
I thought that it was a good film, that could have been a great film, if it was a little longer, and had a little longer to breathe, and add a few more wrinkles. I can appreciate its realism and the fact that it doesn’t set up as a genre piece. It feels more documentarian, than noirish, and I like that, I just wish that there was a little more that I could sink my teeth into. I think that I preferred the Killing of a Chinese Bookie, which is similar in some ways, but also left me wanting more.
I think that once a certain amount of characters are introduced, the film has to live with all of those characters a little bit, or it can feel incomplete, and I think that there may be a few too many characters in Eddie Coyle, and not enough screen time for all.
I’ll agree with that. Mitchum was kind of buried in the film. If he had more room to breathe like the star of “Chinese Bookie”, it probably would have been a better film.
I think Mitchum was some what buried in the film but i thought that was the point? To give you a glimpse into an aging, small-time crooks last stand-literally.
Also, the locations in the film are amazing and add to the realism/documentarian style of the film. It really shouldn’t be hailed as just a Mitchum movie, but rather an ensemble of highly capable actors of the time. Boyle truly dominated 70’s cinema with some really subtle, yet impactful performances from TAXI DRIVER to JOE.
yroc
I just recently watched this film and I have to say it’s an underrated gem in the crime/drama genre. A gritty look at the Boston underworld before The Departed and an intricate story about the price of loyalty.
Also, some really great performances from Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle.
Just wanted to express my gratitude towards a great film that made me remember how real a crime movie can feel.