Diagonaldi Very well executed

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

a_chinn Terrific underrated crime film from veteran Hollywood director Don Siegel. Siegel was coming off the biggest hit of his career with "Dirty Harry" when he made this quirky crime film starring Walter Matthau, who at the time was best known for his comedic roles. Matthau plays career criminal Charley Varrick, who pulls a bank job with Andrew Robinson (the deranged killer in "Dirty Harry"), but the two realize there was far more money in the bank than their should have been and that the bank is a mob front, meaning they just robbed the mafia and are now on the run for their lives. To reveal more would spoil the clever and twisting plot, but I can say that things kick off with bank president John Vernon calling upon a laconic mob hitman named Molly, played by the always great Joe Don Baker to track down the stolen money. The rest of the cast includes many familiar character actors, including Norman Fell, William Schallert, and even future director Craig R. Baxley ("I Come in Peace" and "Action Jackson"). The film was co-written by frequent Siegel collaborator Dean Riesner (uncredited script doctor on "Starman", "Sudden Impact", and "Blue Thunder" and credited writer on "Dirty Harry", "Coogan's Bluff", and "Rich Man, Poor Man"). Siegel's frequent composer Lalo Schifrin ("Bullitt", "Enter the Dragon", "Mission Impossible") is also on hand to deliver another excellent score. Overall, if you're fan of 70s crime films along the lines of "Prime Cut" or "The Outfit", you'll greatly enjoy "Charley Varrick". FUN FACT! At one point in the film, John Vernon's character tell's another character, "They're gonna strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch," which Quentin Tarantino paid homage to in "Pulp Fiction" when Marsellus Wallace says almost the exact same line.

Leofwine_draca 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.

kingsgo4th The title didn't/doesn't have much oomph to it, but this is a great 70's no-comedy crime thriller with the title character deftly played by Walter Matthau. In this film, robbers discover after cleaning out a small town bank's vault that the amount of money they've stolen is way above the expected take and must have mob ties. Andy Robinson (the psycho in Dirty Harry) plays Varrick's naive partner; Joe Don Baker (Walking Tall) is the hit man the mob recruits to get back the money. In smaller roles, John Vernon is a nervous mobster responsible for having picked that particular bank as a mob drop, Felicia Farr and Sheree North (both looking good, both smooth and smart), veteran character actor Tom Tully and Jacqueline Scott (sister of TV's Fugitive) are all superb. Director Don Siegel keeps the story nicely paced and Matthau's dry, thoughtful gum-chewing Varrick trying to stay alive, keeping a step ahead of the mob is really superb. Also pay attention to his small talk...it matters as the story develops.

Scott LeBrun Director Don Siegel is on top of his game with this engaging bit of entertainment, a niftily plotted and violent yarn. Walter Matthau is aces in the title role, a crop duster who decides to pull off a bank heist with his wife Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) and hot headed younger partner Harman (Andrew Robinson). Needless to say, the heist goes awry, but that's NOT the twist. The twist is that their substantial take (3/4 of $1 million) is actually laundered Mafia money. Now Charley has to convince Harman to withhold from spending any of the money right away while doing some real problem solving. Meanwhile, the Mob sends a cool-as-can-be hit-man, "Molly" (Joe Don Baker), after Charley and company.What's key to making a lot of this work is that, for the most part, it's convincing. Based on the novel "The Looters" by John Reese, and scripted by Howard Rodman and Dean Riesner, the film does a great job of storytelling, keeping its grip through a deliberately paced hour and 51 minutes. It doesn't take very long for the action to start, and the situation now facing Charley and Harman is a compelling one. You have to wonder how he's going to think his way out of it, especially since it's fairly common knowledge that the Mafia has a LONG memory and will keep pursuing Charley unless they think that he is already dead. But Charley is a pretty crafty guy, and it's hard to say just how aware he was of what he was getting into. He's got surprises in store, for both the other characters *and* the audience.Matthau is excellent in a low key and believable portrayal. Robinson is fun as the punkish young partner. The casting of Felicia Farr is a neat in-joke considering that she was married to Matthaus' frequent co-star Jack Lemmon. John Vernon is solid as the bank executive with his own problems to solve. The superb supporting cast reads like a Who's Who of talent of the time: Sheree North, Norman Fell, Benson Fong, Woodrow Parfrey, William Schallert, Albert Popwell, Christina Hart. Look for Matthaus' son Charles as a boy carrying roses. Siegel himself has the small role of Murphy, and Bob Steele has his last (uncredited) screen role as a bank guard.Highlighted by Lalo Schifrins' energetic music score and Michael C. Butlers' vibrant cinematography, "Charley Varrick" slowly but surely makes its way towards an exciting car vs. plane chase finale, and a delicious final resolution.Eight out of 10.