The Friends of Eddie Coyle [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Peter Yates Peter Yates

Overview

Middle-aged, three time loser, Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) out on bail, decides to become a police informant in order to avoid his inevitable prison sentence. Manipulated by both the mob and the police, who have no intention of shortening his sentence Eddie tries desperately to save his life and avoid prison. Dillon, (Peter Boyle), a hitman hired by the mob, is ordered to kill Eddie. Dillon takes Eddie out to a hockey game, a good dinner and then takes him to a deserted field and shots him in the head. Beautifully directed by Peter Yates, The Friends of Eddie Coyle deals with a contemporary world still confined by the grim desperation, cynicism and doom which permeated the earlier film noir. Peter Boyle is outstanding as the hitman with a job to do and Robert Mitchum world-weary, but determined is memorable as Eddie. This film, with is down-beat ending and grim determinism is an excellent example of contemporary film noir.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/28/2015
UPC:	0715515144711
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	8,847

Special Features

Audio commentary from 2009 featuring director Peter Yated Stills gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Mitchum	Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle
Peter Boyle	Dillon
Richard Jordan	Dave Foley
Steven Keats	Jackie Brown
Alex Rocco	Scalise
Joe Santos	Artie Van
Mitchell Ryan	Waters
Helena Carroll	Sheila Coyle
Peter MacLean	Partridge
Kevin O'Morrison	Manager of 2nd Bank
Carolyn Pickman	Nancy
Marvin Lichterman	Vemon
James Tolkan	The Man's Contact Man
Matthew Cowles	Pete
Margaret Ladd	Andrea
Jane House	Wanda
Michael McCleery	The Kid
Alan Koss	Phil
Dennis McMullen	Webber
Judith Ogden Cabot	Mrs. Partridge
Jan Egleson	Pale Kid
Jack Kehoe	The Beard
Robert Anthony	Moran
Ted Maynard	Sauter
Sheldon Feldner	Ferris
Gustave Johnson	Ames
Lloyd Bremseth	Extra
Ben Lautman	Restaurant Customer
Bobby Orr	Self
Rick Azulay	Actor
Dave Grusin	Composer

Technical Credits

Paul Monash

Peter Yates	Director
Paul Monash	Producer,Screenwriter
Charles H. Maguire	Producer
Ron Kalish	Sound Effects
Dick Vorisek	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Richard P. Cirincione	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a beautifully sad little film that packs a tremendous punch. A gangster film on the surface, it's really a character study, an examination of a little man with little dreams, a guy just trying to keep his head above water when all the bigger guys are making waves that threaten to engulf him. That the man in question is a small-time hood and the bigger guys are amoral policemen and immoral gangsters means his efforts are futile -- and imbues his story with a melancholic poetry. Coyle is a loser, and he pays the price that losers in his line of work have to pay -- but director Peter Yates and adapter Paul Monash make this disreputable character into a man that tugs at a viewer's heartstrings, even as the viewer is appalled by him. Monash's screenplay is a marvel of economy, skillfully creating entire histories out of a few telling lines and employing a few carefully selected phrases to give reams of information. Yates' direction is taut, moody, and elegiac, yet it knows how to move at full throttle during the action sequences. The film's biggest asset, however, is the incredible performance by Robert Mitchum. World-weary to the extreme, this is a man who has seen it all and is tired of it all -- but who prefers to not give it up. Constantly struggling between determination and resignation, Mitchum is a man whose entire life is a series of dilemmas and struggles; the viewer can practically see the trials and difficulties physically eroding him. It's an understated and marvelous performance. Mitchum is joined by an absolutely perfect Peter Boyle and a magnificent Richard Jordan -- but it's Mitchum's picture, and he gives it melancholy, desperate life -- and in abundance.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler