Charley Varrick | | Cast : | Joe Don Baker, Walter Matthau | | Director : | | | Studio : | Mca Home Video | | Format : | Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC | | Released Date : | , 1973 | | DVD Released Date : | December 28, 2004 | | Language : | English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | October 17, 2005 | | Summary | Charley chews them up: neat & tidy | Content
 | Terrific character story. Great title: not easily forgotten. A paean to ice-cool self-control, about a middle-aged guy who keeps his grip on essentials. Cynical, if you like; but what is life about, anyway? Beautifully laconic --- it's nearly all there in the action, the personalities and the events, without tons of explanatory dialogue (although there is a bit of background exposition in the beginning). Charley is not a fundamentally violent man: he's got unusual common sense, good judgement, no fancy ideas, and he doesn't weep over spilt milk. He doesn't drink or smoke: that's why he's always chewing gum. But he doesn't mind wiping out a couple of no-goods, either, like cream on the last piece of cake, leaving the platter clean, with the dishes washed and everything put away. It all has an air of finality. Otherwise, let the thugs kill each other, keep the brain ticking over 15 to the dozen, and you might just clear the lot. Note well that Charley gives his dead and gormless sidekick not only his dentist's xrays, but also his watch and his wedding ring. Siegel pays the audience the compliment of allowing them to work it out for themselves. It's refreshing not to be treated like an idiot. A really acid, well-played, encouraging little story for anyone thinking to retire --- I kept it in the memory bank until I finally checked out of wage-slave purgatory. This is a long way up the 1000 best films --- a long, long way up. PS; when Sybil says South by South-West, does she mean North by North-West? Charley knows how to make better use of a crop-duster. By the way, the cops found the mobile home via the book of matches in the second car, abandoned at the heist scene. Funny they didn't find Charley's plane and hangar, though.
Amazon should have two separate categories of review: one for the film and one for the dvd quality. I couldn't understand why this totally professional piece of film-making only averaged 3 and a bit stars. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 24, 2005 | | Summary | Charley Varrick - a tight and precise film | Content
| Charley Varrick is a well-played and precise film about the small-time crook who stumbles onto the Mob`s secret money. In the mobs chase of him he starts his cunning plan against them. Walter Matthau is here in a rare dramatic role, which he plays very well. The film is unsentimental and free of too much conversation. It is a film in the spirit the early 70's. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 09, 2005 | | Summary | Actually you get more picture than with the widescreen transfer | Content
| According to www.dvdtalk.com the picture was shot in 4:3 and then cropped on the top and bottom to get the widescreen 1.85:1 format. A bit counter-intuitively, but with this full-frame version you actually get more picture than with the widescreen version, namely on the top and the bottom. Nothing is lost on the left or right.
No longer hesitate to buy this great flick !!! |
| Rating | | | Date | August 23, 2005 | | Summary | Interesting film, bare-bones DVD | Content
| I don't know why I liked this movie, but I did. It was interesting to see Walter Matthau in the criminal role, trying to outwit the police, the mob, and his idiot partner. It was an untypical role for Matthau, and he carried it off brilliantly.
Unfortunately, this DVD is a shame. Not only is it full-frame instead of 1.85 to 1, it has no extras whatsoever. I mean not even a menu!! You pop it in, it plays, then when it finishes it just starts over again. There are chapter stops, but not even a chapter menu. What's up with that? |
| Rating | | | Date | July 02, 2005 | | Summary | DVD report | Content
| Everyone knows this is a great film, and in my opinion it gets better with every viewing. The plot is surprisingly intricate, and there is no dialogue explaining what is going on -- a true rarity.
But what about the DVD? I bought it, after delaying for a long time because of the angry reviews re fullscreen versus widescreen. And, indeed, I wish the DVD had a glorious widescreen print. But it is great anyway. It seems obvious that the film was shot fullscreen, since there is not a single shot that seems awkward. No pan-and-scan. No shots of one person on the screen when there should be two. No half heads. Moreover, the 'extra' material on the top and bottom of the screen never looks awkward. It looks like it was composed for full screen presentation. The picture is very nice. There is nothing to distract you from the very fine film.
To anyone who is hesitating over this purchase for purely technical reasons I recommend that you hesitate no longer. |
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