Thu 11 Dec 2008
Movie Review – THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[10] Comments
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. Paramount, 1973. Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex Rocco, Joe Santos. Based on the novel by George V. Higgins. Screenwriter/director: Peter Yates.
My wife and I upgraded our cable boxes last month, two of them, and part of the package (at an additional ten dollars a month) were all of the Cinemax channels, while the HBO ones came free, if you don’t include the cost of the high-definition box we converted to downstairs.
You don’t need to know all of this, but as far as I am concerned the extra $10 Cimemax surcharge was paid for in one swoop, when I taped this movie late one night last week. For some reason — no one seems to know why — The Friends of Eddie Coyle has never been released commercially, on either video or DVD, but right now it’s strong in the running as the best Robert Mitchum movie I’ve ever seen.
And that’s saying some, as Robert Mitchum has always been one of my favorite movie actors, bar almost none. His sleepy-eyed facade belies some of the most complex and interesting characters ever portrayed on film. I don’t know if he and I would get along in person, but on the screen, he’s a giant, as far as I’m concerned.
Until yesterday, I’d have said that Farewell My Lovely, which came a couple of years later and was the first time around that he played Philip Marlowe, was my favorite Mitchum role, but no more. (Of course, if I were see Farewell, My Lovely again right now, I might change my mind.)
As usual, I’ve not read the book that The Friends of Eddie Coyle is based on, so I’m not reviewing that, only the movie. It takes place in and around Boston, where Eddie Coyle (that’s Mitchum) is doing the best he can to stay out of jail for a job he did, got caught for, didn’t rat out on the guy who hired him, but is thinking of making a deal with the Feds (Ã la Richard Jordan) on some of the other criminal activities going on that he knows about, including a gang of professional robbers hitting suburban banks.
Obviously — isn’t it? — the title of the movie is a misnomer. Eddie Coyle has no friends. The life of a criminal is hard. You get old, and even if you don’t, you never know whom to trust, not even the guys you’ve always though were your best pals. Eddie Coyle is tough but wearing out.
If you thought that noir movies were never made after 1960 or that noir movies could never be made in color, you’d be wrong on both counts. The bright brisk color of Boston and environs in the late autumn are in a not-so-subtle contrast with the quiet desperate of Eddie and his acquaintances as they try to scrap up a buck here and there, and the dingy bars, diners, bowling alleys and shopping malls where they transact most of their business.
I’ve looked but I’ve not come up with scenes from the movie that are in color. Black and white will have to do. It’s appropriate enough, but if you see the film, you have to see it in color. The movie exists, but you’ll have to do some scrambling around to get it.
And when you do, don’t be distracted and put off by the lack of straightforward storytelling. You’ll see for a while what seems to be two movies going on at the same time and in the same place, switching back and forth from one to the other, small snippets of Eddie’s life here, the gang of bank robbers pulling off their jobs there, and in between Stephen Keats as Jackie Brown, plying his trade as a young but experienced dealer in illegal guns (or so he thinks).
I didn’t mention any women in the credits I listed up above. There are none. None that have more than three minutes on the screen. This is a man’s movie, and while women are in the film, they have no say in what happens. Not that the men in it have much say, either.
Have I gotten you interested but not convinced? Here’s a link to a three-minute trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WtR-mi6VtU. That ought to do it …
… but if not, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR-_m4CLzM8&feature=related.
Perfect!
December 11th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Steve,
One of my favorite actors of all time as well, but you’re overlooking what I would say is Mitchum’s very best role in “Out of the Past”!! “Farewell My Lovely” is also in my top five of his best as well, But what about “Cape Fear”. That movie scared the heck out of me when I saw it the first time.
I’d say it’s his second best, in my opinion.
I haven’t seen “Friends…” in years, so I’ll try to track down a copy and see if I think it holds up as well as you.
December 11th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Eddie Coyle regularly tops critics’ DVD wish lists. Every year there are rumors of its impending release. Some day it will happen. In the meantime, I’ll keep catching those rare TV airings.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I like Eddie Coyle alot also but if I was forced to pick my favorite Robert Mitchum movie it would be Out of the Past.
But Criterion has announced as recently as November 18, 2008 that it will be releasing The Friends of Eddie Coyle in 2009. This is major news since Criterion often puts out dvds loaded with extras.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Gents
Out of the Past is one of my favorite 1940s films, but I think I like Mitchum’s later films even more. I’d have to watch Cape Fear again to see how it stacks up against the others, but right now it’s still Eddie Coyle number one and Farewell My Lovely number two.
I haven’t found a way to put it into words, but Eddie Coyle resonates with me like no other movie I’ve seen in quite a while.
Regarding Criterion, Walker, all I’ve seen online are hints and strong rumors. You make it sound more definite than anything I’ve found, though perhaps I didn’t look hard enough.
But if so, it is good news indeed.
— Steve
December 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am
There are copies available from third party sellers who made copies from tv or some other source. ioffer.com has a seller listing copies at $6.00 plus $3.00 postage. Quality is listed as a 9 out of 10.
I like Mitchum in Farewell My Lovely also. I even like him in the Hopalong Cassidy b-westerns!
December 15th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Nice stuff. Terrific film!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Wish I could get it on DVD. Good movie I haven’t seen in a long time. They used my fathers 69 Camaro in that movie, my mother was pregnant with me at the time. Last time I seen the movie I wasn’t old enough to appreciate it. Would love to see it.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:57 am
This movie comes out in a beautiful new dvd by specialty house Criterion in May 09…oh, and read the book- unbelievably good and you’ll finish it in one sitting…enjoy!
February 17th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Thanks, Ross, for the update.
I’ve found the following at http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/549871-may-09-criterions.html:
Synopsis:
In one of the best performances of his legendary career, Robert Mitchum plays small-time gunrunner Eddie “Fingers” Coyle in Peter Yates’s adaptation of George V. Higgins’s acclaimed novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle. World-weary and living hand to mouth, Coyle works on the sidelines of the seedy Boston underworld just to make ends meet. But when he finds himself facing a second stretch of hard time, he’s forced to weigh loyalty to his criminal colleagues against snitching to stay free. Directed with a sharp eye for its gritty locales and an open heart for its less-than-heroic characters, this is one of the true treasures of 1970s Hollywood filmmaking—a suspenseful crime drama in stark, unforgiving daylight.
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Peter Yates
* Audio commentary featuring Yates
* Stills gallery
* PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Kent Jones and a 1973 on-set profile of Robert Mitchum from Rolling Stone
19 May 2009
DVD
1 Disc
SRP: $29.95
October 20th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
[…] of the film itself, written nearly two years ago, before the DVD came out, you’ll have to go way back here on the blog. […]