The Friends Of Eddie Coyle (1973)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle(USA) Directed by Peter Yates. Written by Paul Monash. Starring Robert Mitchum; Peter Boyle; Alex Rocco; Richard Jordan; Steven Keats; Joe Santos
The long awaited Criterion DVD release of this largely unheralded 70s classic has finally arrived. Based on the novel by ex-attorney George V. Higgins, The Friends of Eddy Coyle is undoubtedly the finest crime film to be set in Boston, and one the best offerings of its kind in cinema history. Peter Yates was familiar with the genre, having previously directed quality entries like Bullitt (1968) and The Hot Rock (1972). In every film based in Boston accents are an issue and Friends is far from perfect in this regard. Several major roles are played by actors who struggle, namely Richard Jordan as Federal Agent Dave Foley (goes in and out), and Steven Keats as a weapons salesman Jacky Brown (who speaks in a New York accent). Still, the acting is uniformly superb - particularly Robert Mitchum as knock-around guy/ex-con Eddie “Eddie Fingers” Coyle; Somerville native and former Winter Hill associate once charged with murder, Alex Rocco as Scalese; and Peter Boyle as bar owner/criminal Dillon. The plot is largely a procedural, showing two corresponding stories that eventually intersect. The first of these focuses on Eddie trying to get out of the impending two year sentence he faces in NH for getting caught with a truckload of stolen booze. The second involves a crew of robbers led by Scalese and Artie Van (Joe Santos), both longtime Coyle associates. Eddie is being pressed to give up information by Foley, who, unbeknownst to Eddie, is also working Dillon for information. Coyle’s desperation is the heart of the story - he is fifty one, has a wife, three kids in school, and wants to avoid another trip to prison. We get very little background information about the crew of robbers, and simply observe one full bank robbery (their m.o. is to kidnap the bank manager at his home, taking his family hostage while robbing the bank), and parts of two others. The low-key handling of the crimes are right up there with the best in the genre, comparing favorably to films like Michael Mann’s Heat and Thief. Although the script is full of Higgins’ conversational meanderings and obfuscated speech, Yates shows tremendous restraint avoiding the cliches that beset most like films. Unlike a film like the overblown The Departed, an action fest that completely missed the nature of Irish American criminals, Friends accurately depicts the loose associations, backstabbing, hierarchy, and the separation of the personal and professional common to low to mid level criminals. Traveling from Sharon to Fall River to Quincy to Dorchester to The Boston Garden to Government Center, the film is full of scenes set in depressed environs - bowling alleys, diners, parking lots, barrooms, and train stations, and is sufficiently and satisfyingly downplayed.