starring Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker
directed by Don Siegel
110 minutes
Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau) robs a bank with Nadine, his wife, and a couple accomplices They walk away with considerably more money than they thought they would. The getaway driver (Nadine) gets shot during the heist and later dies from her wounds. Charley realizes that the money they got must be mob money and that they are in great danger.
Charley tries to get them out of town but the odds are stacked against him and Harman, the other surviving bank robber. The mob sends Molly (Joe Don Baker) after the bank robbers.
I first saw this movie in late 2007, roughly 15 years ago. I wasn't blown away by it then and once again I was not blown away by it. There were a few scenes that made me roll my eyes. There are four named female characters in this movie but I can't think of a single scene in which more than one of them appeared.
I saw this movie at the AFI Silver Theater, Part of my reason for wanting to see it again was because tonight's showing was introduced by George Pelecanos. I've read and enjoyed a few of his novels. I wasn't crazy about his introduction. He spoke for about 10 minutes. It seemed like he was reading a prepared statement. There was very little life to what he read.
This is not a must watch movie for most people. I like it to a degree but I'm not as impressed by it as some people are. It kept my attention and my interest but it feels a bit dated and ridiculous in places.
Notes
Norman Fell played Mr. Garfinkle, a police detective. I know him best from Three's Company but he has also been in a number of movies I have seen. More recently I saw him in an episode of The Invaders.
Wiiliam Schallert played the sheriff. He was also in In the Heat of the Night (1967) and made guest appearances on lots of TV shows.
Andrew Robinson played Harman. He is best known to me for playing Scorpio in Dirty Harry.
No comments:
Post a Comment