Made on the favorable backdraft of DIRTY HARRY's commercial glow, this action/thriller from no-nonsense/just-the-facts director Don Siegel still waits to get the attention it deserves. A twisty tale of small-time bank robbers stumbling into big-time Mob Money, then trying to put police and Mafia enforcers off the scent, it just may be the best Elmore Leonard adaptation ever made. Particularly impressive, since Leonard had nothing to do with the film. Faux Leonard better than the real thing.* Walter Matthau, under the impression he was slumming in a non-literary pic, is an unusual choice that pays off as Charley, ex-crop duster/current hold-up man, trying to stay alive long enough to clean up after his dangerous good fortune. With standout support up and down the line, Joe Don Baker & John Vernon exceptionally threatening and vile culling their way thru Matthau’s associates to the missing cash. Siegel, delivering one thrilling set piece after another, also takes time for unexpected intimacy, including a brilliant scene for Vernon and a compromised bank manager, staged outdoors as a deceptively simple two-shot. (Like his action scenes, there's wit in the economy and precision.) With great work from debut cinematographer (and Siegel godson) Michael Butler, along with some truly alarming stunt work,* the film is a hard-nosed treasure waiting to be discovered.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Gold standard for real Leonard goes to JACKIE BROWN/’97 and GET SHORTY/’95. (Though not sure if revisiting SHORTY is worth the risk.)
READ ALL ABOUT IT: *Find out how they did those stunts (and which were happy accidents) in Siegel’s auto-bio, A SIEGEL FILM. (Extra points for spotting Siegel losing at ping pong.)
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