I had heard fantastic reviews about this film, so I was really eager to watch it. And then... What a disappointment! I liked the minimalistic directorial job and some scenes (particularly the end) were rather interesting, but all in all it's hard to believe this film is from the same director of "Bullit" because it lacks of nerve. It has no momentum at all, due to confusing editing and poorly structured screenplay.<br /><br />To resume, the main problem is that it loses a lot of time developing subplots of little relevance. <br /><br />For example, the film begins with the images of the set up for a bank robbery, which is very confusing: screenwriter analyst Linda Seger says that the first images from a film have to transmit us the main concept of it, so the viewer can figure out what is going to be told. But during the first half of the movie we see various shoots from the bank robbery, when the robbery itself has little importance. What is real important here is the act of betrayal, and as long as the relationship between Peter Coyle and his friends is somehow ellipsed, the film's concept has no strength at all.<br /><br />In fact, it is hard to figure out what this movie is about until it has run a long time. That creates confusion and difficults the viewer to be involved.<br /><br />After watching this film ask yourself who Eddie Coyle's friends were, what were they like and what kind of relationship Eddie had with them, and then you'll understand what I am talking about. <br /><br />