This is NOT the Robert Mitchum your granny would have watched! Soon after the film began, I was a tad surprised to hear the 56 year-old Mitchum and his cohorts using language that even by 1970s standards was harsh. The F-word and racial epithets might catch the casual viewer by surprise! While this does add to the film's realism, it certainly ISN'T what many will expect from one of his films.
Mitchum plays the title character. He's in a bind. He's about to be sent back to jail and he's grasping at straws to escape this fate. At the same time he's supplying guns to hoods for a robbery, he's also desperate enough to try to work out a deal with feds to finger the person that supplies him with the guns. This double-dealing sure makes the word "friends" in the film's title ironic, huh?
As far as the robberies goes, they're a big highlight of the film. The perfection and professionalism of the plans are amazing. Additionally, I noticed that at times I stopped breathing with trepidation. In particular, with the first one, as the bank manager was told to walk away from the car with the robbers--I kept waiting for the worst and was on the edge of my seat.
The gun running aspects of the film are also amazingly tense. Watching gun deals go down as well as going down badly once again set my heart to pounding as well.
Overall, it's extremely well written, tough and realistic. I'm actually surprised this film isn't more well-known considering it's a high quality film throughout. I like how the film is very tough but also not mired if ultra-violent images like more recent gangster films have been. In other words, it's a nice middle ground between the sanitized gangster films of the 30s and 40s and the so violent that they are repellent films of the 80s and 90s.
Mitchum plays the title character. He's in a bind. He's about to be sent back to jail and he's grasping at straws to escape this fate. At the same time he's supplying guns to hoods for a robbery, he's also desperate enough to try to work out a deal with feds to finger the person that supplies him with the guns. This double-dealing sure makes the word "friends" in the film's title ironic, huh?
As far as the robberies goes, they're a big highlight of the film. The perfection and professionalism of the plans are amazing. Additionally, I noticed that at times I stopped breathing with trepidation. In particular, with the first one, as the bank manager was told to walk away from the car with the robbers--I kept waiting for the worst and was on the edge of my seat.
The gun running aspects of the film are also amazingly tense. Watching gun deals go down as well as going down badly once again set my heart to pounding as well.
Overall, it's extremely well written, tough and realistic. I'm actually surprised this film isn't more well-known considering it's a high quality film throughout. I like how the film is very tough but also not mired if ultra-violent images like more recent gangster films have been. In other words, it's a nice middle ground between the sanitized gangster films of the 30s and 40s and the so violent that they are repellent films of the 80s and 90s.