Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

tomgillespie2002 Adapted from the novel of the same name by George V. Higgins, director Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle takes pride in its authentic depiction of 1970s Boston, where Irish mobsters trade weapons and organise truck hijackings over a diner table. It follows low-level criminal Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle, played by Robert Mitchum, as he faces a lengthy spell in prison for a crime organised by bartender associate Dillon (Peter Boyle). His only hope of avoiding jail time is a recommendation to the District Attorney's office, which may put him good favour with the judge. ATF agent David Foley (Richard Jordan) sees the opportunity to further his own career by promising Eddie he'll put in a good word as long as the career criminal feeds him solid intelligence.Mitchum is perfect as a man who has grown tired of risking his livelihood for his bosses, having grown old with little to show for it other than some extra knuckles gained from having his hand slammed into a drawer by a rival. Coyle is well-connected and reliable, with a keen eye for a good business deal. Yet as his superiors have grown rich, he still lives in a shabby neighbourhood, saving up any pennies he can. He purchases guns from the wild yet competent young gun-runner Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), but sees an opportunity to prove himself useful to Foley, who actually has more informants within Coyle's underworld than the old man realises. Coyle understands that this is his last chance to escape the world he has become weary of, and spend his remaining years enjoying the sunshine. Yet his information never seems to be enough for Foley, and as the rate of successful arrests rapidly increases, it isn't long until his 'friends' become suspicious.The Friends of Eddie Coyle could have only been made in the 1970s, when studios in Hollywood were more open to taking risks and allowed writers to tell the story they wanted to tell. This is about as unsentimental and understated as crime dramas get, shot by cinematographer Victor J. Kemper in a loose style more akin to documentary than thriller. The tone is almost nihilistic at times, mirroring the mindset of the majority of the film's shifty characters. It makes for riveting viewing, with Mitchum delivering one of his finest performances in what was already a muscular career. The supporting cast is excellent too, with both Boyle and Keats utterly convincing as bottom-level scumbags, all of whom seem to exist in a state of constant paranoia and aggression. It will leave you incredibly cold, but only the very best crime sagas expose this dangerous world for what it actually is.

christopher-underwood What this is not, is a super slick, fast moving, sexy and violent cops and robbers movie - there's not even a car chase and this from the man that made Bullitt. What this is, is a very low key, believable look at downtown crime in 70s US and a faded Robert Mitchum struggling to survive in his later years and avoid a spell inside. And of course to do this he has to call in some of his 'friends' and do a little more crime. He struggles a bit in the part but this might be Yates lack of direction which will also become evident in The Deep. Within the environment of a dirty Boston and even dirtier pals this is all fine. Steven Keats in his first film is fantastic as the ultra laid back gun runner, Jackie Brown and the ever reliable Peter Boyle has a central role of the barman who notices things and is not afraid to pass on information, a year before Young Frankenstein. The way Boyle moves around in the makes you think he's already practising for that role. No sex and violence or splashy effects then but simply a good wild crime movie told from an unusual angle, the bottom.

FilmCriticLalitRao American film 'The friends of Eddie Coyle' welcomes viewers to a brutal world where policemen, bank robbers and arms dealers meet each other at regular intervals in order to show their superiority. Everything related to their work is shown in this film. It is a world where nobody could be trusted and everything works on instincts. It is in the midst of such an abrasive world that a gunrunner named Eddie Coyle is trying to strike a fine balance between his personal as well as professional lives. Although there are guns, criminals and gangsters, 'The friends of Eddie Coyle doesn't present itself as a violent film' as drama prevails over action scenes. The people whose company Eddie Coyle seeks are no ordinary guys. They have been depicted as mean, vicious for whom the realization of their own personal interests is something which matters the most. From this yardstick, there are not really Eddie Coyle's friends as he doesn't share their qualities. Actor Robert Mitchum was already a major star before the launch of this film. He deserves viewers' respect for playing an ordinary person's role who is unable to reform due to severe constraints in his profession. An air of authenticity surrounds the entire film especially in the manner in which it is depicted how some bank robbers are able to achieve their targets by catching bank managers unaware in the midst of their family.

treywillwest This could be called one of the great neo-noirs of the 1970s. This will prove to be a strange opening sentence for this review as I will devote most of it to discussing why I don't think this film is really a "noir"at all. Noir- for all of its "grit"- is a romantic genre. The Noir anti-hero commits, in one way or another, a transgression in order to achieve transcendent love and passion, the hope of realizing the sublime. The noir protagonist is, then, truly an "anti-hero," or even "tragic hero." He has the potential for greatness, for sublimity, but this fate, by its very potential, is derailed due to some "tragic flaw" that is part and partial of the character's potential for greatness. Eddie Coyle, the ubiquitous main character and a small-time Boston gun-runner, has no potential for greatness. Judged simply by his actions, he's just a scum-bag in a world of scum-bags. That we come to both care for him and accept his fate with an almost cynical (in the classical Greek sense) acceptance is a major reason why this is such a great, and I think unique, work. It's greatness comes, if we want to get auteur-istic about it, not from the director or writer, but from the star, Robert Mitchum. Mitchum has long been amongst my favorite Hollywood performers, but I never knew he was capable of a performance like this. Few ever have been. Without the "showiness" of most celebrated Hollywood actors- say late period Dustin Hoffman or Jamie Foxx- Mitchum invents Coyle. He invents him more than the writer. This is a (rare in film) example of the performer as "auteur". If almost any other actor had played Coyle- as written- I think he could have come off as such a worthless slime-ball that most would be tempted to ask "why am I watching a movie about this pathetic, boring loser?" But Mitchum instills in Coyle a capacity for observance- for something akin to, though not identical with, empathy. He is, as Mitchum embodies him, someone who has suffered for his courage (which should not, in this case, be equated with honor) enough that he sees the fear and suffering in others, and he knows how to use it. But ultimately, he just doesn't want himself to suffer that much again. In this way, Mitchum makes Coyle almost a tragic, though not "noir"-ish(!)- figure, and this film one of profound pessimism. Coyle is humanity. In daring to face reality, he learns its horrific nature, and will do anything to escape it. But once understood, the real is the only real. We are trapped. Another note, the film has a brilliant sense of place. It captures not only Boston, but low-life New England in general, perfectly. I lived in the New England states for much of my teens and twenties. For me it was, especially in those months known for "Fall foliage!", a landscape of death and decay, though some claim to find it beautiful. This film transported me from Cali back to that wintry slum. I both admire it and resent it for this.