Friends of Eddie Coyle, The (1973)

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Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is a small-time Boston hood about to go away for five years, leaving his wife and children, for a job gone awry in New Hampshire. In order to avoid the time, he is driven to inform on various criminal acquaintances to cop Foley (Richard Jordan), but he is not the only one informing.

The best thing about Killing Them Softly was the dialogue, which I was reliably informed came from the source book by George V. Higgins; The Friends of Eddie Coyle is the only other adaptation of his work to date. Here too is a bleak, depressing vision of no honour among thieves; with friends like these... Higgins' dialogue is compelling, and for all the skill of Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle it is the real star.

- Sam - 2013-09-12 01:04:43