Synopsis

POOPER:
Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum), a struggling gunrunner facing prison, informs for Agent Foley (Richard Jordan). He supplies guns to robber Jimmy Scalise (Alex Rocco), then gives up Scalise’s heist to Foley. After the botched job, Scalise is caught and names Eddie as the gun source. Foley, now possessing enough to put Eddie away, abandons him. To secure his own position, Foley orders his other informant, gun supplier Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), to have Eddie killed. Jackie hires their mutual friend, the hitman Dillon (Peter Boyle), to do it. After a hockey game, Dillon shoots Eddie in his car. Eddie is murdered by his friend on the orders of his other associates, a disposable pawn to everyone.

LONG VERSION:
Eddie “Fingers” Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is a low-level, aging Boston gunrunner. He’s facing a few years in prison for a truck hijacking in New Hampshire, and he’s desperate to avoid the time. He hopes to get a favor from a prosecutor, so he starts feeding information about his criminal associates to a treasury agent, Dave Foley (Richard Jordan). Eddie is deeply conflicted and scared about being a “stoolie.”

At the same time, Eddie is supplying revolvers to a younger gang of bank robbers led by Jimmy Scalise (Alex Rocco). The guns come from a source Eddie knows only as “The Man,” who is actually a bartender and part-time gun supplier named Jackie Brown (Steven Keats). Jackie is also secretly working for Agent Foley.

Eddie’s life is a series of grim, tense meetings. He meets the bank robbers in diners and parking lots to hand off guns. He meets Foley in quiet spots to give small bits of information. He meets his friend Dillon (Peter Boyle), another bar owner and career criminal, to complain about his troubles. All the while, Eddie feels the walls closing in. The bank robbers successfully pull off a few jobs using his guns, which brings more heat.

Eddie tries to win favor with Foley by giving up information about the bank robbers’ planned heist of a country club. Foley’s men set up a stakeout, but the robbery is botched when one of the gang members, Artie Van (Joe Santos), panics and starts a shootout. Artie is killed, and Jimmy Scalise is captured.

Scalise, now in custody, quickly figures out that Eddie Coyle must have been the informant who set them up. To get a lighter sentence, Scalise tells Foley that Eddie was the one supplying the guns. Foley now has Eddie on both the gun charges and the robbery conspiracy. However, Eddie doesn’t know Scalise has given him up.

Thinking he’s finally earned his favor, Eddie meets Foley, expecting help with his sentencing. Foley coldly tells him there’s nothing he can do; the New Hampshire judge is known to be tough. Eddie is devastated. Meanwhile, Foley has a separate meeting with his other informant, the gun supplier Jackie Brown. Foley pressures Jackie to have Eddie Coyle killed, to prove his value and tie up the loose end.

Jackie Brown then goes to Dillon, the bar owner, and hires him to kill Eddie. In the final act, Eddie goes to a Bruins hockey game with his friend Dillon. Unbeknownst to Eddie, Dillon has been hired to kill him. After the game, Dillon offers Eddie a ride. As Eddie gets into the passenger seat, Dillon shoots him in the head. Eddie Coyle is left dead in the car. The film ends with Agent Foley meeting a new potential informant, showing the cycle will continue.