And the personal experience he brought to it and the trauma that followed, which reared up again last weekend. Somehow it seemed right for him to have the last word on this regrettable incident, as he didn’t belabor blame, but rather presented a worthy reminder of the courage it took for a young actor to take on a role like that, one that nobody else wanted. We at Deadline thought we were done with the story, until we got a note from Dwayne Barnes, the actor who played that role. We aired all sides of the story, from the email that an offended Ross sent to Baker in response to the clip (which prompted CAA to fire him) to a strong apology by Baker for being tone deaf in sending that clip in the first place. For fans of the way "Menace II Society" deals with the life of crime, you'll find plenty to enjoy in "The Friends of Eddie Coyle." While the film features some wonderfully executed heists, it's far more about the way crime wears you down over time, and how nobody wins in the end.Editor’s Note: As we saw last weekend from Deadline’s coverage of Jay Baker losing his position as longtime CAA agent after sending manager Jewerl Keats Ross a Menace II Society movie clip depicting a crack addict willing to perform a sexual favor because he was so desperate to feed his habit, we are in a moment of heightened sensitivity that leaves everyone in Hollywood standing upon a trap door that can be triggered by a single insult or misdeed. Yates' film is a masterwork of tension, and Mitchum is brilliant in the lead role. He's faced with a brutal decision: snitch on his colleagues for his freedom, or stay honest and find himself behind bars. He's done it before, you see, and it's left him penniless and opportunity-less. Coyle is facing a bootlegging charge for a job he took in New Hampshire, and he believes he can't handle hard time. He is no stranger to difficulties with the law, and his life as a career criminal leads him with something nasty hanging over his head. The film's title is deeply ironic, as Coyle doesn't have a friend in the world. One of his later roles, playing Eddie Coyle in Peter Yates' "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," is one of Mitchum's finest performances.
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