Charley Varrick

1973
PG
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

15K

YOUR RATING

Walter Matthau and Joe Don Baker in Charley Varrick (1973)

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Heist Crime Drama Thriller

A man, his wife and their friend stage a bloody bank robbery without realizing they are stealing from the Mob.A man, his wife and their friend stage a bloody bank robbery without realizing they are stealing from the Mob.A man, his wife and their friend stage a bloody bank robbery without realizing they are stealing from the Mob.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Trivia
Walter Matthau was not fond of this film. Don Siegel would later say that Matthau hurt this film's box office by publicly stating that he neither liked the film nor understood it.

Goofs
After Charley first lands the biplane, damage is visible on the lower tail. However, this is before the chase sequence with Molly when the damage is inflicted.

Quotes
Charley Varrick: You know what dirty money is? That's the kind of money you can't declare on your income tax. Well, when certain people get that kind of money, what they do is send it out of the country to invest, and when it comes back, it's clean.
Harman Sullivan: So?
Charley Varrick: So maybe that little bank was a drop, a collection point. Maybe all this was on its way out of the country.
Harman Sullivan: Fantastic! We lucked out!
Charley Varrick: More like crapped out. It's ten-to-one this stuff belongs to the Mafia. This is gambling money skimmed off the top, whore money, dope money.
Harman Sullivan: What's the difference?
Charley Varrick: The difference is the Mafia kills you, no trial, no judge. They never stop looking for you, not 'til you're dead. I'd rather have ten F.B.I.s after me.

Connections
Edited into You're Still Not Fooling Anybody (1997)

Soundtracks
You Can Make a Memory Out of Me
Written by Lalo Schifrin and Paul Vance
Performed by Dee Dee Warwick

User reviews154

Featured review

7/10

Charley Varrick (1973) ***

It's such a shame they can't make gritty down-and-dirty movies like they did in the 1970s anymore. And CHARLEY VARRICK is a fine specimen of the exciting, brutal, honest approach to movies in that decade. We've become so accustomed to seeing Walter Matthau in comedies like GRUMPY OLD MEN that at first you'd wonder if he could pull his part off as Varrick convincingly (well, he also played a crook in KING CREOLE and a detective in THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE, TWO THREE, for openers). It turns out that Matthau is very good here, playing a small-time bank robber, a common-man type who's latest take unexpectedly winds up being laundered Mafia loot! Now he has to outsmart the mobsters as well as their sadistic hit-man and the police, all of whom are hot on his trail.

Everyone in this film is out for all he/she can get. I have to take a moment to acknowledge Joe Don Baker in particular. As the punchy, no-nonsense, wisecracking hit-man he provides many fun moments and is a real standout. He's perfectly cast, but then so really is most everyone (Woodrow Parfrey, Sheree North, Andy Robinson and John Vernon - the dean from NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE). Don Siegel keeps us interested throughout, and one nice scene in particular struck me when Parfrey and Vernon are having a discussion near the cow field. Their dialogue and acting is done practically in one long take that keeps us focused just by the sheer talents of the actors being allowed to do their thing. I wonder if this is a lost art with the now ever-moving MTV camera styles and edits of the 21st Century? I should mention I also enjoyed the unpredictable climax.

They just don't make movies like this anymore - unless you count the great Quentin Tarantino, who undoubtedly likes this film himself and seems to have borrowed some of it for his own work (there's even a line from VARRICK that was reheated for PULP FICTION). *** out of ****