Charley Varrick (1973)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I was late to the table on this one. Shame on me. I first watched it on VHS when it was probably twenty years old (and I was thirty). It's tough and mean and insanely entertaining. A beautifully filmed meat and potatoes thriller. There's no gristle. It's everything you want in a thriller. Trust me, seek it out.

On the face of it, CHARLEY VARRICK really shouldn't work as well as it does. It's a slightly predictable and hackneyed story about a gang of bank robbers who accidentally steal from the mob and find themselves on the run, directed by Don Siegel, the man best known for his collaborations with Clint Eastwood. It's a resolutely low budget production, quite rough around the edges, and in Walter Matthau it has a leading man best known for his comedy roles.And yet, and yet, CHARLEY VARRICK works, and works very well. Sure, it's a slow burner throughout, and it's never as suspenseful or exciting as it should be, but it has a certain kind of atmosphere all of its own and a depth of characterisation you don't normally see in a thriller. The visuals are great, and the film is book-ended by two classic scenes; the opening bank robbery is brief but thrilling, while the climactic plane action really impresses. Matthau is excellent as the lead, and given fine, twitchy support from Andrew Robinson as his accomplice and Joe Don Baker as the hit-man. Watch out for a scene-stealing John Vernon in a particularly slimy role.

I saw Charley Varrick for the first time around 1975, and really liked Matthau's performance against type. I tend to think of him as a comedy actor but he, in Charley Varrick, plays a thief with a past, and comes across very credibly. The cast is sound, photography typically unassuming 1970s, strong screen play, and highly believable action with effective stunts. One of those flicks that I like getting out of my VHS/DVD collection every second or third year for a re-visit. It is that good!

This is a classic '70s crime movie by the unheralded genius Don Siegel who also made the classics Dirty Harry, The Shootist and the '50s sci fi masterpiece, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.The '70s filmmakers knew a thing about action that is entirely gone from post-Schwarzenegger action movies. They didn't have obligatory scenes where the star strips for the camera so that you can admire their physique and wonder how many stomach crunches they did to get those abs. They were rough and ready pictures about characters pushed to limits both physical and mental. They were in believable situations which only made the pain they felt more empathetic.They had stars like Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Gene Hackman, and Walter Matthau. Guys who didn't look like they spent 9 to 5 in the gym, but that they could have actually lived the life they lived in the movie.And they had villains like John Vernon and Joe Don Baker. Both make an appearance in Charley Varrick. Vernon is a slightly less heinous character in this one; more a man who knows he's in over his head and his days are numbered as he tries to maneuver Matthau and Baker toward each other not be around when the confrontation happens.Baker is excellent as the charismatic, quirky Molly - a facade that belies a ruthless killer.Matthau is also perfect as the eponymous anti hero, surveying the world with eyes that have seen it all before and would be surprised at nothing.The conclusion, particularly, is unforgettable, with Varrick being chased on ground by Molly and trying to get away in a crop duster. Push comes to shove and he flips it, ending up upside down.