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Very well executed

Too much of everything

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

In a way, I see why this might have been the case. That information comes from one of the other reviewers. It's helpful, unlike those reviews that tell us the cast list and regurgitate the plot. This is an excellent, memorable film. The cast list is very similar to Siegel's previous effort, Dirty Harry, but this is a much, much better movie. He's replaced Eastwood with Matthau. I suppose Clint didn't want to be featured as dodgy. Maybe Matthau didn't either, but he certainly makes this film. It's tremendously entertaining, witty and surprising. Novel characters: Joe Don Baker as a supremely sadistic ultra-racist. I can't visualize him in a contemporary narrative. I can't see any reason for calling this film slow-paced. There's never the slightest clue where it's heading, so the viewer is kept alert throughout, right up to the logical, well-planned, dramatic climax. Great film ! Worth multiple repeat viewing.

This 1973 thriller from Don Siegel, faded to obscurity but it is a very entertaining film all the same. Walter Matthau is the character of the film's title and delivers a convincing straight performance. Joe Don Baker is a cruel and sadistic Mafia soldier who is given the task of retrieving stolen money that Matthau has made away with after a bank heist at the beginning. It is a game of "cat and mouse" as Matthau has to use all the tricks of his trade, so as to avoid his Mafia pursuer. Don Siegel rarely reduces the sense of tension and that was the right decision from him. Andy Robinson and John Vernon (both from the masterpiece "Dirty Harry") give excellent support. Don't miss this one!

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.

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.