Charlie Varrick (1973) - Siegel

Plot:  When Charlie Varrick robs $750,000 from a Mob controlled bank, he must outwit both the FBI and the Mafia hit-men.
Stars: Walter Matthau (Charlie Varrick), Joe Don Baker, Sherrie North, John Vernon

A tightly written, brutal story of a little crook beating the big crooks. Charlie Varrick, except for some gratuitous sex scenes, is a fast moving crime movie - with little time for character development or sentiment.  We start out with a bloody bank robbery and end 111 minutes later with an exciting, if implausible, airplane vs. car duel. Varrick, of course, triumphs - did anyone think Don Siegel would kill "Oscar Madison"?

Flaws
First, why should we care about Varrick? He's a bank robber, implicated in killing three bank guards & policeman. Later, Varrick sets up his partner for the Mafia hit-man and threatens to throw a woman off a balcony. He's no Albert Schweitzer - to say the least.

Second, everyone in the movie is either nasty, cowardly, untrustworthy, crooked or just plain evil. And we get a drawn-out scene of Joe Baker beating a man to death, eight other killings, and visit to a sleazy brothel.  I felt like taking a shower afterwards.

Walter Matthau
The 53 year old Matthau is slightly miscast as a crop-duster pilot/dangerous bank robber. When flying the plane, Matthau looks like Snoopy, and his bedding of the pretty Mafia Secretary is either "pervey" or unintentionally funny. Thankfully, Matthau never engages in physical violence or tries to be an "action hero."

Supporting Cast
While all the supporting actors are good, Joe Baker as the intelligent, psychotic hit-man, and John Vernon as the slimy mafia boss, stand out. Baker is somewhat like Lee Marvin in  "The Killers".  He likes the finer things in life but is cold and relentless in his pursuit of the money and his targets.

Summary:  A fast-paced, amoral crime action/thriller with some off-beat casting.  Its worth a look, if you have strong stomach for 1970's hairstyles and mindless brutality.

Postscript - An implausible Ending:
Matthau's plan at the end was dependent on *everyone* acting as Matthau wanted them to, and doesn't work otherwise.  What if Baker had NOT decided to run over Vernon? What if Vernon had pulled out a gun? What if Baker had taken Matthau out of the cockpit and had *him* open the trunk?  And what if Baker had decided chasing an airplane was too dangerous and quit, or crashed his car?  Then, Matthau would've been back where he started, with $750K and the Mob after him.

IOW, for his plan of killing Vernon AND Baker AND getting away was dependent on a whole bunch of lucky breaks - like drawing Four Aces in Poker.