A dark character study of an ageing man out of luck and companions, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is about as far away as it gets from the decade's best-known thrillers like THE FRENCH CONNECTION. This one does have its fair share of action, including a number of violent and suspenseful bank robberies, but it's not about them at all, instead an introspective character study of a broken down man and the difficult choices he makes at the end of his life. A lot of the gravitas comes from the thoroughly decent performance of Robert Mitchum in the title role, but the good quality supporting cast - including Peter Boyle and Richard Jordan - doesn't hurt either.
Review of The Friends of Eddie Coyle
