"It's a grubby, violent, dangerous world. But it's the only world they know."

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Directed by Peter Yates, rated R, 102 minutes

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a bleak and unsentimental crime film about Eddie Coyle, a small time hood on his way to prison for gunrunning, who begins giving information to the police while continuing his less than legal business in a desperate attempt to leave some money for his family. Robert Mitchum delivers a perfectly grim and melancholic performance, and Peter Boyle offers a memorably smarmy character. The film isn't flashy or exaggerated, and instead relies on a terrific story set in a fascinatingly realistic criminal underground. The Friends of Eddie Coyle is the epitome of 70's crime thrillers, and this dark and brooding film packs a wallop. You'll like it if: You like 70's cinema, crime films, Robert Mitchum, Taxi Driver, Jackie Brown or Le Samourai.