AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

J Besser I was late to the table on this one. Shame on me. I first watched it on VHS when it was probably twenty years old (and I was thirty). It's tough and mean and insanely entertaining. A beautifully filmed meat and potatoes thriller. There's no gristle. It's everything you want in a thriller. Trust me, seek it out.

alexanderdavies-99382 This 1973 thriller from Don Siegel, faded to obscurity but it is a very entertaining film all the same. Walter Matthau is the character of the film's title and delivers a convincing straight performance. Joe Don Baker is a cruel and sadistic Mafia soldier who is given the task of retrieving stolen money that Matthau has made away with after a bank heist at the beginning. It is a game of "cat and mouse" as Matthau has to use all the tricks of his trade, so as to avoid his Mafia pursuer. Don Siegel rarely reduces the sense of tension and that was the right decision from him. Andy Robinson and John Vernon (both from the masterpiece "Dirty Harry") give excellent support. Don't miss this one!

kingsgo4th The title didn't/doesn't have much oomph to it, but this is a great 70's no-comedy crime thriller with the title character deftly played by Walter Matthau. In this film, robbers discover after cleaning out a small town bank's vault that the amount of money they've stolen is way above the expected take and must have mob ties. Andy Robinson (the psycho in Dirty Harry) plays Varrick's naive partner; Joe Don Baker (Walking Tall) is the hit man the mob recruits to get back the money. In smaller roles, John Vernon is a nervous mobster responsible for having picked that particular bank as a mob drop, Felicia Farr and Sheree North (both looking good, both smooth and smart), veteran character actor Tom Tully and Jacqueline Scott (sister of TV's Fugitive) are all superb. Director Don Siegel keeps the story nicely paced and Matthau's dry, thoughtful gum-chewing Varrick trying to stay alive, keeping a step ahead of the mob is really superb. Also pay attention to his small talk...it matters as the story develops.

carbuff First off this is an anti-hero movie--if you need the good guys to win, this is not really your movie. This movie could be described as a more clever but less slick Quentin Tarantino film. I put this on because I had some friends over with their kids and the kids had seen everything new. I thought that an older, quality movie starring Walter Matthau (who they had never even heard of) might hold their attention, and it succeeded very well. I'm not the hardest grader, and if a movie simply leaves me with no regrets its already on its way to high marks from me. The production values of this film obviously don't match today's, and, of all of the performers, only Matthau's acting holds up well in hindsight. Strange as it sounds though, the dated performances of the other actors just added to the '70s atmosphere of the film, which made for terrific nostalgia for me. This is really a case of "they don't make them like they used to", and it's really too bad. Might be time to go back and watch some old Colombo episodes.