Public Service Announcement: The Friends of Eddie Coyle

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If you've been waiting to get the recent Criterion Collection DVD of Peter Yates' 1973 "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" and it's been passed over in your Netflix queue, well, here's a heads-up. This morning, I returned my copy, one which I inexplicably kept for weeks before watching it. There is one copy back into the fold, Netflixers, and maybe one of you will get it by the end of the week.

This was my first time seeing this cult favorite crime flick, and it lived up to the hype. It's a lived-in movie with location shooting, unforced grittiness, and a general working-class atmosphere that helps create a memorable experience.

Oh, yeah, and then there's a fantastic performance by the original B-Mitch, Robert Mitchum. Damn, he's good in this, and I wish I could speak with some intelligence about that, but all I can think of right now is one particular scene in which he's awesome, but to describe it might spoil the movie for you.

The whole movie is low-key, but always in an organic way. I mean, I know it IS a self-conscious decision, but it never feels like it. Let's face it, being made in the 1970S isn't in itself to make a movie cool seventies-ish, if you know what I mean, but "Coyle" is the real deal.'

So, anyway, Netflixers, I have relinquished my copy. I wish Criterion had offered some more extras, but at least they did what Paramount did not/could not: put the movie out there. If it's been "Long Wait"'ed in your queue, look again this week.

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