{"id":2524,"date":"2007-03-14T12:20:31","date_gmt":"2007-03-14T19:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2023-11-30T13:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:54:46","slug":"friends-of-eddie-coyle-the-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2524","title":{"rendered":"Friends of Eddie Coyle, The (1973)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You help Uncle, Uncle will help you.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Poster-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Poster-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA small-time hood (Robert Mitchum) facing two years in prison provides information to a federal detective (Richard Jordan) in exchange for amnesty.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Heists<\/li>\n<li>Informers<\/li>\n<li>Peter Boyle Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Yates Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Mitchum Films<\/li>\n<li>Thieves and Criminals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on a novel by district attorney <a href=\"http:\/\/www.answers.com\/topic\/george-v-higgins\">George V. Higgins<\/a>, Peter Yates&#8217; gritty thriller effectively showcases Boston&#8217;s criminal underbelly in the early 1970s. The film&#8217;s title is an ironic misnomer, since the &#8220;friends&#8221; of Eddie Coyle (Mitchum) are anything but; indeed, they exemplify the adage that there&#8217;s no honor among thieves: when it comes to self-preservation, loyalty goes out the window for these petty gangsters. By the movie&#8217;s final powerful shot, we realize that crime truly <em>doesn&#8217;t <\/em>pay, and that there can be no such thing as a happy ending for people whose survival hinges on tenuous trust. <\/p>\n<p><em>Eddie Coyle<\/em> features marvelous performances by each of its male leads &#8212; including Steven Keats as an edgy gun-runner, Richard Jordan as a wily federal detective who fully realizes that he holds Coyle&#8217;s future in his hands, and an appropriately brittle Mitchum as the eponymous protagonist. Unfortunately, we learn far too little about Coyle himself &#8212; an intriguing character who merits much more attention. Instead, Yates spends an enormous amount of screen time showing us a couple of bank heists, which are well-executed but ultimately gratuitous, given that they don&#8217;t further the plot in any way. Despites its flaws, however, <em>Eddie Coyle <\/em>remains an interesting entry in Mitchum&#8217;s late-life career, and is certainly a must for fans of this iconoclastic actor. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Robert Mitchum as the aging hood<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Mitchum-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Steven Keats as a (justifiably) paranoid gun-runner<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Keats-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Jordan as Mitchum&#8217;s fed contact<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Jordan-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effective use of Boston settings<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/Friends-of-Eddie-Coyle-Boston-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. While Peary lists it as a Sleeper and a Personal Recommendation in the back of his book, <em>The Friends of Eddie Coyle<\/em> is ultimately only most-see viewing for fans of Mitchum. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0070077\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1973\/06\/27\/archives\/the-friends-of-eddie-coyle-is-a-good-tough-movie.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-friends-of-eddie-coyle-1973#:~:text=The%20movie%20is%20as%20simple,as%20his%20time%20runs%20out.\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/67092.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You help Uncle, Uncle will help you.&#8221; Synopsis: A small-time hood (Robert Mitchum) facing two years in prison provides information to a federal detective (Richard Jordan) in exchange for amnesty. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Detectives and Private Eyes Heists Informers Peter Boyle Films Peter Yates Films Robert Mitchum Films Thieves and Criminals Review: Based on a novel by district attorney George V. Higgins, Peter Yates&#8217; gritty thriller effectively showcases Boston&#8217;s criminal underbelly in the early 1970s. The film&#8217;s title&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2524\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2524"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93586,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions\/93586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}