Charley Varrick

Don Siegel directed this offbeat crime thriller which stars Walter Matthau as the titular Charley Varrick. Varrick is a small-time stick-up man who, in tandem with his partner Harman Sullivan (Andrew Robinson), makes plans to rob a small bank in New Mexico. Varrick and Sullivan are expecting a ...more

Genre veteran Don Siegel made one of his more subversive choices when he cast the hangdog Walter Matthau as the cunning title character in 1973's caper flick Charley Varrick. It's almost as if Siegel were trying to deflate the type of mythic hero that he previously helped create in Dirty Harry, poking fun at the creation by presenting its slovenly alter ego. Audiences may have balked at Matthau as a captivating crook, but his sarcastic, laconic presence works well within the well-trod realm of ...more