Rating: 4/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2024 | 11/52 | Composer: Lalo Schifrin
CW // Blood, Murder, Verbal and Physical Abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism
The sun rises in a rural town in New Mexico. A yellow Continental pulls up in front of West Fidelity Bank. Two children swing on a swing set in front of the brick building. An older man, Charley, steps out of the passenger seat. He has a cheque in his hand. His foot is in a cast with a metal heel to support it. The driver, Nadine, waits in the car.
A police officer notices the Colorado plate on the yellow Continental. He’s sure he’s seen that plate number on a hot sheet.
The teller must get the manager’s approval before cashing it.
The officer returns to the bank. Nadine bites her lip, impatiently glancing at the bank door.
Charley argues with the manager, who will not cash an out-of-state cheque. He pulls a gun.
Two men with masks abruptly turn, guns in hand. One man pushes the bank security guard against the wall. The other hops over the counter, through the gated security window, wiping the surfaces with a rag to remove his fingerprints. He opens the cashier drawer with his handkerchief and unloads the money into a bag.
Charley, holding the manager at gunpoint, forces him to open the vault. “You want to die for somebody else’s money?”
The officer gets a callback on the radio about the plate — it belongs to a stolen green Camero. Each of the officers undoes the thumb breaks on their holsters. One officer steps out of the car and approaches the Continental. The other pulls perpendicular to the Continental to prevent it from driving off.
The driving officer sidles up to the Continental, tips his hat to Nadine, and asks her for her driver’s license. She pretends to dig her bag, then shoots the officer in the head.
Chaos erupts as several people on both sides die. As the getaway car drives away, Charley pulls off his disguise — it’s Walter Matthau! When the surviving robbers reach safety, the news reports a much lower amount stolen than the pull they brought in. They didn’t just hit a bank — they uncovered a money-laundering scheme run by the Mafia. The cops want to catch their robbers. The Mafia wants their money back.
Everyone’s got money on their mind, and no one is above suspicion.
— Charley, you worry too much. — No such thing as worrying too much. Not when you got the fuzz and the Mafia after you at the same time.
Charley Varrick is intelligent — slow to act, quick to reason. He’ll get you through unless you get in his way. Walter Matthau’s naturalism is perfect for this type of role. Well, until they expect him to play sexy — his sense of humor should be enough.
This movie is a clockwork crime story — it ebbs and flows with such a logical progression. The film reveals details at the right time to keep the audience engaged.
The stunts are stellar and economically use space to set up concrete obstacles. We get a little crop duster action, too.
The irony of Walter Matthau recommending a dentist to Andrew Robinson when his teeth look like they’re about to rot out of his skull.
This is the first time I remember seeing Joe Don Baker where he doesn’t look like a washed-up football player. His one character trait in this movie seems to be that he checks out butts.
Lalo Schifrin’s score doesn’t always work for me. He swings from harsh tension for insignificant scenes to breezy tennis club jazz seconds later. Now and again, the score matches the mood of the scene.
I don’t know why I watched this before Dirty Harry. If it’s anything like this movie, I’ll watch it ASAP. Then again, I like Walter Matthau a lot more than Clint Eastwood.
Overall, this was way more fun than I was expecting!