Charley Varrick (Charley Varrick: The Last of the Independents)

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In this movie all women are stupid, easy, limited, shallow and sexy. Most men are stupid, vicious, violent croocks. The only half decent character is Varrick and only varely. The antagonist is evil enough, but uninteresting.

Kind of a shame, because there are some golden and intelligent moments there.

Description: Walter Matthau plays the eponymous Charley, “The Last of the Independents,” a destitute crop-duster living out of a mobile home in rural Nevada. He and his wife slip into a life of small-time crime, quietly skimming and stealing from those just an inch higher on the economic ladder. After a no-frills bank robbery turns fatal, Matthau finds himself with a suspiciously large take and nitwit mafia hit man Joe Don Baker (fresh from Walking Tall) on his tail in a chase across a forlorn American countryside. Alternatively solemn and fox-clever, this unassuming thriller finds Siegel working at his 1970s peak, dispensing violence wi Walter Matthau plays the eponymous Charley, “The Last of the Independents,” a destitute crop-duster living out of a mobile home in rural Nevada. He and his wife slip into a life of small-time crime, quietly skimming and stealing from those just an inch higher on the economic ladder. After a no-frills bank robbery turns fatal, Matthau finds himself with a suspiciously large take and nitwit mafia hit man Joe Don Baker (fresh from Walking Tall) on his tail in a chase across a forlorn American countryside. Alternatively solemn and fox-clever, this unassuming thriller finds Siegel working at his 1970s peak, dispensing violence with steely professionalism. It’s a beautiful and ridiculously underrated film from a detail-minded industry veteran who did everything from heading the Warner Bros. Montage Department and directing episodes of The Twilight Zone and Convoy to creating the most overachieving drive-in fodder ever (The Beguiled) and introducing America to Dirty Harry. By Charley Varrick, he had more than earned his preferred credit, “A Siegel Film.” ... (more) (less)