Top Five: Heist Movies
3) Charley Varrick (1973)
Varrick is a smart guy, but lives in a trailer and wants to improve his standard of living. So he plots to rob the local bank of some $2,000. Instead, he nets $750,000. The bank reports $2,000 missing. What does that mean? Varrick has inadvertently ripped off both the bank and The Mob. This is one of those post-Vietnam no nonsense thrillers from the 1970s. It’s deadly serious, barely a joke or a smile are cracked throughout, one of those movies where the story is told visually with minimal dialogue but is clever nonetheless (maybe Christopher Nolan should watch this). The cons are so professional that they work intuitively and mere talking is deemed inefficient. How fucking manly can you get?
The plot-twists are reasonable and well played. The whole thing is well played in fact, fatty bullshit is kept to a minimum yet the characters are developed. Seems like this would have been a perfect Steve McQueen vehicle only it has Matthau instead. Although it’s no big deal. Matthau is playing an early Neil McCauley here (Heat) almost.
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