Dillon (Boyle) ratted the Scal out to Foley, because he's become a snitch.
The Man, the Mafia, thinks that Coyle is the one who ratted out the Scal, because Coyle is facing time in NH for a job (that he did for the Mob, that Dillon arranged), and is looking to get his sentence reduced or commuted.
Dillon occasionally works for the Man. The Man hires Dillon, the real snitch, to kill Coyle, the one who he thinks is the snitch.
In all fairness, Coyle was going to rat on the Scal, but Dillon beat him to it.
I can't remember exactly, though, why the Man is retaliating over the Scal getting caught. The Scal might be giving the Man a cut, or something else - I don't remember.
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mlbroberts
16 years ago
I got that Dillon was a bigtime snitch and profiting from it in every way possible, but you think "the man" is not one of the characters in the movie but "the Mafia"? I don't know - I keep feeling like it's one of the characters and trying to figure out which of the characters it is, and I keep coming back to Foley, mainly because of that last line (and because of the corruption in law enforcement theme). Guess I'll find the book and see if I can get some help there - I might be way off base and you might be right.
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Nikon11
16 years ago
I don't think that Foley was anything more than just a cop trying to get criminals to rat each other out.
It's been a while since I watched or read it, so I can't remember what the Man's connection to Scal was. It might just be that the Man was concerned that Coyle might be thinking of squealing to the Feds about the job that Coyle got busted for (which he was doing for the Man, when he got busted).
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sd187
16 years ago
just watched it. the man was definitely not foley. foley wanted to know who killed coyle. the man was the mob or crime syndicate
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pedro4300
15 years ago
If "the Man" was Foley, then this would be a very stupid movie. It doesn't make sense at all. It's most definitely not Foley.
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jaygill-1
15 years ago
I think "the Man" is a substitute for anyone that you don't want to explicitly identify in a conversation. This includes anyone in the Mafia who is giving orders or who you need to interact with.
Artie Van says to Eddie at the parking garage: "When do you have to see the man?" when Eddie was going to meet Jackie to get guns and then deliver them up to Scal. In this case, it is Scal.
In the parking lot meeting with Dillon and the go between re: the hit on Eddie, "the Man" in this case is whoever can call for a hit probably a capo or something.
In the opening scene, Eddie says to Jackie: "The Man tells me you've got guns to sell". In this case, it is one of Eddie's contacts.
So. "the Man" isn't one person. Just street slang for whoever is in authority and isn't identified.
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gwen_christie
15 years ago
That is an interesting explanation. It puzzled me too. The final conversation between Foyle and Dillon also confused me. Dillon referred to a person who was going to wholesale poison the pigeons because his suit had been ruined, but I presume this was an allegory about the criminal world they operated in? Do you have an insight into this? I haven't read the book.
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trob226
15 years ago
I don't have any insight into anything and haven't read the book either. Foley's line "I'd never ask you to do anything I knew you couldn't do" or something like that he says to Dillon just dug into my mind, because Dillon said to "the Man's" contact man something along the lines of "I done a lot of tough things the man asked me to do and he knew I could do them." The two lines just couldn't be accidental. Foley has to be in "the Man's" pocket one way or another, if he isn't "the Man." One other line, too. When Jackie Brown is arrested, he knows it was Eddie who sold him out and he says something to Foley that indicates that (of course, Foley knew it was Eddie because he talked to him) and then says it's something he'll take care of himself. I haven't figured out how that plays in either. Who exactly is working for "the Man" and who is independent is a big question mark for me, too. Probably why I keep coming back to this film and don't read the book. It's fun trying to figure it out.
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Nikon11
15 years ago
Well, the book doesn't make any connection between Foley and the Man. And I'll stick with the Man being the organised crime boss in Providence.
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wmitchellhm
15 years ago
I agree with the theory of the Prov. Mafia being “The man”. The Italian Mafia, which controlled New England (including Boston) was headquartered in Providence. Back in the 60’s, there were numerous skirmishes and power struggles between several different factions of the New England Mob. The New England Mafia family never did get complete control of Boston’s underworld – much of which was controlled by the Irish faction. In “Eddie Coyle”, the guns were coming up from Prov. R.I., and heavy work like the Bank heists portrayed would have been sanctioned and backed by the Mafia. “The Man” had his/their gunrunner busted, the bank crew busted, etc. Someone had to be “ratting” for this to occur. “The Man” used the Boston Irish faction to eliminate the suspected rat, Eddie. The Boston faction would have attempted to protect “their own” however, they also were mislead and thought Eddie’s pending jail time has caused him to try to rat his way out (no doubt Dillion fueled this fire). Overall, a great, overlooked movie.
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Mike_Noga
12 years ago
Maybe Foley was telling Dillon that he would never knowingly put Dillon in the same position Eddie ended up in. Remember the story Dillon told about the pigeons and the guy from New York who wanted to kill them all? Although honestly my first thought when I heard that line was that Foley was the guy that ordered the hit on Eddie.
Jumping Kings and making haste ain't my cup of meat.
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itchyredness
10 years ago
No way is it Foley. He wouldn't have busted Jackie or the bank robbery if he was.
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