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Title: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE . . . finally! Post by: The Burgomaster on April 15, 2009, 06:18:20 AM Yesterday, I submitted my pre-order for the upcoming DVD release of the 1970s crime classic THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. This has been at the top of my "Please release this on DVD" list for a long, long time . . . Now, if they would get around to releasing the original WILLARD (and of course BEN) and a few others (PUPPET ON A CHAIN, THE DOBERMAN GANG, etc.) I'd been an extremely happy guy.
Title: Re: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE . . . finally! Post by: sandbagger on April 19, 2009, 02:04:40 PM One of my all time favorites. I bought it on Amazon Unbox a few months back.
Title: Re: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE . . . finally! Post by: The Burgomaster on May 27, 2009, 08:26:17 PM Watched it today (I didn't realize it was a Criterion DVD when I ordered it).
You won't see many movies like this being made these days. The whole movie is driven by dialogue . . . the scenes are deliberate and methodical, without the rapid fire editing that is common in just about every movie that has been released since 1990. The actors move within the frame rather than having the frame move around the actors. I love it. It's almost like watching a surveillance film taken with a hidden camera. Most of the movie was filmed in exteriors during the daytime (and even during the interior scenes, you can often see outside through a window) in genuine Boston area locations. One thing I really like about it is the actors didn't try to force the Boston accents. Having lived in Massachusetts all my life, I usually cringe when I hear actors trying to speak with Boston accents. Most of the time, they lay it on much too thick and it sounds ridiculous to a native Bostonian. Not so in this movie. The accents are pretty good . . . Robert Mitchum does a fine job . . . plus, Alex Rocco uses his real accent as a native of the Boston area. There isn't much on-screen violence, but there is a constant feeling of danger throughout the film. Most of the characters are small-time crooks trying to make a buck without getting caught, and you always feel that there are more powerful, violent criminals on the fringes of the story, just beyond the view of the camera's lens. This movie does for Boston what THE FRENCH CONNECTION does for New York. Recommended! |