After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.
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Did you know
- TriviaThis film is based on the George V. Higgins novel of the same name. Higgins also wrote Cogan's Trade, on which the film Killing Them Softly (2012) is based. The character 'Dillon' appears in both, played by Peter Boyle in this movie and by Sam Shepard in Killing Them Softly.
- GoofsAt the hockey game, Eddie and Dillon arrive and sit together. Eddie, wearing his jacket, goes to get beer for them. When he arrives back at their seats, Eddie's coat is folded and hanging on the rail in front of their seats.
- Quotes
Jackie Brown: This life's HARD, man, but it's HARDER if you're stupid!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star (1991)
Featured review
"Have a Nice Day"
If The Godfather (1972) resembles high opera, then this movie is a cheap beer. It's a really cynical look at street-level crime where trust in your fellow man is about as rare as an honest politician. No glamour here. Mitchum looks like he's coming off a two-week bender, with a chubby wife, a tenement house, and a passel of kids. He's going nowhere except to jail unless he squeals. In the jungle of blue-collar crime, he's a survivor, but just barely. What a long way from the iconic super-star.
Great script, with some memorable dialog, especially when Mitchum starts grousing in elegant vernacular. Too bad the gun dealer (Steven Keats, I believe) is overshadowed by Mitchum's icon. He's a fascinating study in criminal ethics. Those scenes with Mitchum are little gems of circling-dogs and wary self-interest.
For plain slimy characters, it's hard to beat Peter Boyle's moon-lighting bartender and Richard Jordan's angel-faced cop. Between the two of them, they could give law- enforcement a bad name. And that final scene is about as quietly shattering as any I've seen. There we learn just how important a working-class stiff is to our criminal justice system.
Then too, that brutal hockey game amounts to a vivid metaphor for the world these characters spring from. Probably the movie was too low-key and downbeat to attract much attention. But in my book, it's a genuine sleeper, the most honest look at the Darwinian world of urban crime that I've seen. As the movie likes to say, let's all have a nice day!
Great script, with some memorable dialog, especially when Mitchum starts grousing in elegant vernacular. Too bad the gun dealer (Steven Keats, I believe) is overshadowed by Mitchum's icon. He's a fascinating study in criminal ethics. Those scenes with Mitchum are little gems of circling-dogs and wary self-interest.
For plain slimy characters, it's hard to beat Peter Boyle's moon-lighting bartender and Richard Jordan's angel-faced cop. Between the two of them, they could give law- enforcement a bad name. And that final scene is about as quietly shattering as any I've seen. There we learn just how important a working-class stiff is to our criminal justice system.
Then too, that brutal hockey game amounts to a vivid metaphor for the world these characters spring from. Probably the movie was too low-key and downbeat to attract much attention. But in my book, it's a genuine sleeper, the most honest look at the Darwinian world of urban crime that I've seen. As the movie likes to say, let's all have a nice day!
helpful•182
- dougdoepke
- Feb 14, 2010
- How long is The Friends of Eddie Coyle?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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By what name was The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) officially released in India in English?
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