Charley Varrick . Austin Chronicle . 05-11-98

Charley Varrick

DIRECTED BY: Don Siegel

REVIEWED: 05-11-98

Small-time bank robber and cropduster pilot Varrick (Matthau) pulls off a bank job in Tres Cruces, New Mexico that leaves four dead and his wife mortally wounded. With his dimwitted partner Harman (Robinson) he makes a clean getaway, but there's one big problem. The take from the bank job is much bigger than expected, leading him to believe that the small-town bank was actually a "drop" for a Mafia money-laundering setup. Varrick winds up having to contend with the cops and the mob, as well as his mistrustful partner who can't wait to get out and start throwing the money around. It's not one of Siegel's best, but with an ironclad plot, good dialogue, generous helpings of Siegel-style violence, and plenty of double and triple-crosses, it definitely holds your attention as a good caper film. Joe Don Baker is effective as Molly, the pipe-smoking, implacable, coldly efficient ass-whupping machine sent to track them down, while sharp-eyed viewers will spot Siegel himself in a brief cameo. Matthau is contrary to type as the gum-chewing, rumpled, laconic con man Varrick; while Molly has a hot rod Chrysler to chase them, Varrick has a WWI-era biplane. The only real blot on this film is the unappetizing notion of Walter Matthau having sex (ugh) with Felicia Farr (Jack Lemmon's real-life wife).

--Jerry Renshaw

Other Films by Don Siegel
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Big Steal

Film Vault Suggested Links
Cop Land
The This World
Joe the King

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