I remember the first time I watched The Friends Of Eddie Coyle (1973), I taped it off TV after hearing it talked up in a few movie books my Mum owned. I think I was a bit young because I felt underwhelmed – it wasn’t as epic as The Godfather or had amazing stunt work like The French Connection. But that’s part of the film’s greatness, an adaptation of George V. Higgins novel, set in Boston with older small time hoods and cops, depressed faces, meeting in dingy bars or empty parks, talking around deals and jobs because they can’t say it openly (it has such excellent dialogue). It’s an unglamorous life; as one character says, “This life is hard, man, but it’s harder if you’re stupid!” At the centre is the great Robert Mitchum as the title character, eschewing his iconic screen persona as an unflappable tough guy to play a connected loser who seems over his head at the same time as knowing how to play the angles in between running guns for hoods and informing to “Uncle” (Sam, that is). Great cast of character actors including Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex Rocco. Directed by Peter Yates (of Bullitt and Krull) with a great jazzy score by Dave Grusin, I loved watching this again, a downbeat 1970s era crime story, a definite influence on gritty crime fare like The Wire and comparable to other films of the era like Straight Time. Recommended.
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