MovieChat Forums > The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) Discussion > Eddie Coyle vs The Departed

Eddie Coyle vs The Departed

posted 18 years ago by stpetebeach
10 replies | jump to latest

Watched COYLE again today after seeing THE DEPARTED last night. An amazing contrast, and not to Scorsese's benefit. Similar themes, of loyalty and betrayal among criminals, and same location (Boston), but Peter Yates is so much more effective in handling the material because of his understated approach. Mitchum is fantastic as a weary man looking for a way out. The scene in the opening, where he tells the gun dealer how he got the name Eddie Fingers, and the one in the bowling alley, where he threatens him, are magnetic. By contrast, I thought THE DEPARTED played like a comedy in many (too many) scenes. Hail the '70s. (Note: I too got my copy at 5 Minutes to Live. It's a clean version but has some popping in the soundtrack. Worth having in any case.)

[–] jaygill-1 18 years ago

Do have the DVD of this? What is "Five Minutes to Live"?

I think both these films were awesome Boston Gangster films and awesome Boston films period (ok - Coyle maybe a better Boston film but not by much).

[–] stpetebeach 18 years ago

5mtl dot com is the site. They sell out of print films.

[–] Oliver-50 18 years ago

I really hope that with the popularity of The Departed maybe there will be some positive talk about FOEC - hell, even if someone remembers this film. The comparisons between the two films are evident, but I'm hoping that because The Departed is set in Boston people will want to seek out this forgotten cousin of mob films.

Gandhi baked is good.

[–] spydanman 17 years ago

I agree with all the above. I haven't seen this for years but after seeing The Departed I've been trying to track it down. It is a classic low-key seventies crime flick that felt real. I hope I can track down a copy because it has always been one of my favorites, and it has never got the credit it deserves. Mitchum, Boyle, and all are at their very best. A must see film.

[–] mikedotd 17 years ago

I want to congratulate the poster of this thread for not only for having great taste, but also for having little, to no grammatical errors.

[–] j-lier 17 years ago

Mitchum and Boyle are both excellent in this movie of the non-glamourous side of the criminal life which rarely shows up in films.
I read in a Mitchum-biography that he turned down "Dirty Harry" to do "The Friends of Eddie Coyle"...

[–] disent1929 16 years ago

Nah. I didn't think much of The Departed-apart from it's splendid acting. Alot of plot holes. Still don't know how this film won best picture. Eddie Coyle was MUCH better.

[–] saltville 16 years ago

I think one has to consider the source material. Disclaimer, I enjoyed the Departed; however, departed was a remake of a korean actioneer while FOEC was adapted from a well written gritty crime novel. sure they are both set in boston but its kind of like comparing Straight Time and Sniper.

[–] Oliver-50 16 years ago

Well put, saltville!

"That is the whitest white part of the eye I have ever seen; do you floss?"

[–] CineFileMou 9 years ago

Infernal Affairs is a Hong Kong film. Thus the language used is Cantonese. Not a Korean film at all.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infernal_Affairs