The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

June 26, 1973, release date

Directed by Peter Yates

Screenplay by Paul Monash

Based on the novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins

Music by Dave Grusin

Edited by Patricia Lewis Jaffe

Cinematography by Victor J. Kemper

Robert Mitchum as Eddie “Fingers” Coyle

Helena Caroll as Sheila Coyle

Peter Boyle as Dillon

Richard Jordan as Dave Foley

Steven Keats as Jackie Brown

Alex Rocco as Jimmy Scalise

Joe Santos as Artie Van

Mitchell Ryan as Waters

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

DVD distributed by The Criterion Collection

 The Friends of Eddie Coyle is based on the debut novel of the same name by George V. Higgins, who worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston. The parallels between the plot of this film and some of the stories surrounding Whitey Bulger and his reign over the Boston crime world in the 1970s are chilling. Anyone living in the greater Boston area will likely recognize the parallels from newspaper and television accounts of Bulger’s trial.

I watched The Friends of Eddie Coyle on the DVD distributed by The Criterion Collection. The DVD included the director Peter Yates’s commentary about the film, and he made several points about the film, including the following:

• The entire film was shot on location in the Boston area. None of it was shot on studio sets.

• The Boston crime world reminded Yates of the London crime world because the criminals wouldn’t shoot noncriminals. As he observed it, the Boston criminals were rather civil about it all, a rather jovial friendly lot. (As I observe it, that may have been true of the book and the film, but I think many would disagree with that depiction of the Boston crime world.)

• The use of different types of masks for the different robberies and heists came from Higgins’s book.

I took special notice of these details because of another neo-noir that is a favorite of mine: The Town, which was directed by Ben Affleck and in which he had the leading role. The Town was based on a 2004 book Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. (I have read Hogan’s book, but I have not read Higgins’s—not yet anyway.) I have always wondered if Chuck Hogan borrowed from George V. Higgins because of the similarities between the two movies. Here are some examples:

• Use of masks in the heists.

• The robbers don’t want to hurt anyone; they just want the money. In The Town, Jem Coughlin is an exception.

• The bank manager, Mr. Partridge, is blindfolded in the first heist in The Friends of Eddie Coyle, as is Claire Keesey, also the bank manager, in The Town.

• After the first heist in each movie, the bank manager is left at the beach. In The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Mr. Partridge (the bank manager) is told to walk until he finishes counting to 100, and he heads toward the water. In The Town, Claire Keesey (the bank manager) is told to keep walking until she feels the water on her toes (she is barefoot because the robbers took the bank employees’ shoes during the heist inside the bank).

(This blog post about The Friends of Eddie Coyle contains spoilers.)

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a darker film. It has everything that the crime world of 1970s Boston had: betrayal, murder, robberies, gun running, corruption in law enforcement. Eddie Coyle is alone as far as his work as a gun runner is concerned. He’s abandoned by everyone, including the law enforcement officer who offered him a deal for his information. Eddie feels like he’s being abandoned, but the viewer, who has more information than Eddie does, can really feel his increasing isolation and the dangerous position he is in. Eddie may feel abandoned, but he doesn’t realize how dangerous his position has become.

It seems that Eddie Coyle’s fate is determined from the beginning of the film. A crime that he committed in the past (before the film starts) comes back to haunt him again and again. He can’t catch a break from his fellow criminals or from the law enforcement officer to whom he gives his first tip. Everyone seems corrupt in Eddie’s business. But even Eddie is pushed to the limit when it comes to informing on others’ illegal activities. In spite of this, I found myself rooting for him throughout. As his situation becomes more and more dire, I kept rooting for him.

Robert Mitchum, as Eddie Coyle, captures all the nuances of a man who leads a criminal life but who does the best he can to provide for his family. The world-weariness on Mitchum’s face, especially when Eddie Coyle must choose between helping himself and remaining loyal to his friends, gives the film an extra bit of realism that makes Mitchum a joy to watch.

Several intertwining threads to this story make the plot a bit difficult to follow. The film demands that the viewer pay attention; in fact, the viewer (and Eddie Coyle) cannot take anything for granted. The viewer has more information than Eddie does, which makes the sense of impending doom even more poignant. Keeping track of the story’s details is so rewarding, though. And then there’s Mitchum’s wonderful performance.