Despite its age this holds up as a beautifully constructed and directed heist-gone-wrong caper, superbly cast, highly entertaining and memorable. Enjoy!
This is a neat crime film from the 1970s directed by Don Siegel who made a well respected series of westerns and cop/crime dramas in the 60s and 70s including Coogan's Bluff (1968), Madigan (1968) and Dirty Harry (1971). Charley Varrick has grown in stature over the years and has been cited as a favourite of Quentin Tarantino. Siegel had, of course, used the then big box office star Clint Eastwood in many of his films and so the use of Walter Matthau is an interesting one. Here he plays the worldly wise Charley, an experienced criminal, who along with his wife and two men rob a small New Mexico bank. It all goes wrong when the police show up and Charley's wife is killed but his troubles just get worse when the haul from the robbery is very large indeed and Charley realises they have inadvertently stolen mafia money that the bank was laundering. Soon Charley must use all his wits to outwit both the police and the mob who have sent their chief hitman (Joe Don Baker) to find him and retrieve the money. Matthau was a very versatile actor who could do comedy as well as serious drama and be menacing if needed. He's perfect here as the weary criminal who needs to outfox some serious bad guys and stay out of prison. The film has a good support cast of Siegel regulars including John Vernon and Woodrow Parfrey. The 1970s was the heart of the American New wave and pushed the boundaries in film especially adult cinema and whilst this has nothing compared to the violence seen today this was a gutsy film for its time and well worth seeking out.