Robert Mitchum, Boston Criminal

The Friends of Eddie Coyle(1973) in all its bleakness showcases Robert Mitchum as a petty Boston criminal who sells firearms to the mob and becomes a pawn as an informer for the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) official, Dave Foley (Richard Jordan). Mitchum is believable as the tired crook surrounded by winter’s dead trees, gray buildings, and slimy characters. Actor Peter Boyle gives the performance of his career as the hit man assigned to bump off Eddie Coyle. Suspense builds at the Boston Bruins hockey arena; the live footage of Bobby Orr and the violence on the ice reflects the cold game unfolding in the stands.

This 1970s crime drama is nothing like Scorsese’s crime drama, The Departed.  There’s no zippy music in the background. No violet shirts or leopard robes worn by an eccentric boss. You’ll visit no classy neighborhoods or experience melodrama in The Friends of Eddie Coyle. This is a gritty world of hit-men, suppliers, and fickle officers of the law. In this dog-eat-dog world, train stations and bowling alley parking lots are the arenas where victims are as valued as a mucus stained handkerchief. 4/5.

Do you prefer the realism here or Scorsese’s colorful, pretty world in The Departed?