source: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

source: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

What a pointless movie! Idiotic ending. I want my 1.5 hours back

Imagine all the clichés of early 70s road movies rolled into one. A sub-par Bonnie and Clyde gang; a maverick sheriff who clashes with his by-the-book superior; a series of incompetent Dukes-of-Hazzard-style police chases. You've got yourself the plot of DMCL. Add to that the early 70s obsession with being gritty. The actual robbery sequence (stealing money from Roddy McDowall's safe while holding his family at gunpoint) is far nastier than it could have been and makes us lose all sympathy for the robbers. Strangely the film then carries on as if this hasn't happened and mostly (up until the "shock" ending) treats the characters in a light-hearted way. We're supposed to be on their side, despite one of them (with the complete approval of the other) having broken into someone's home, pulled a woman violently from the shower and held her and her daughter in a state of fear at gunpoint, then tied them up and left them, while McDowall is frantic about what has happened to them. There is even a threat that the child would be hurt if necessary. And he is shown as being the "good guy" of the gang! Susan George is oddly miscast as Mary. She unfortunately speaks an unpleasant accent (when she has such a good speaking voice normally). I have no idea why she is dirty, however. Peter Fonda is Larry, and to be fair, it is easy to see why he is 'crazy'. Mary is initially attracted to Larry but curiously seems to favour the third gang member (ie the house breaker) later after he gallantly defends her. The dialogue is either very banal or expositional and the action is the semi-comic no-one-really-gets-hurt car carnage common of the era. The "shock" ending is heavily telegraphed long before it happens and only seems to be there, like the robbery, be make the film look weightier than it actually is.

I have a real soft spot for 1970s movies. Some of the greatest movies of all time are from that decade, and even the bad ones are usually more interesting than bad 1980s or 1990s ones. Usually. Not this time! 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' is neither a cool, existential road movie ala 'Vanishing Point', nor a silly-but-fun road movie like 'Race With The Devil'. It falls into neither camp, and really even calling it a "car chase movie" misleads into thinking there's going to be some kind of action on show or fun to be had. It's actually really really DULL. One of the major problems with the movie are the two leads. I've never thought much of Peter Fonda's acting ability, but this must be one of his worst performances EVER. You really don't care what happens to his character. And Susan George may have been passable in 'Straw Dogs', but is nothing but unappealing here with a suspect accent. The chemistry between the two is non-existant, and their "banter" ends up becoming a major irritant. Roddy McDowall has a small (uncredited) role at the beginning of the movie, the late Vic Morrow does little as a law enforcement officer, and cult favourite Kenneth Tobey may as well not be in it for what he offers. In fact the only actor who comes out of this plodding mess with any dignity is Adam Rourke. He plays the only character of any depth. It's a pity the script wasn't better developed, the direction more focused, and his co-stars replaced with others as talented as him. Don't waste your time.

This is a fun movie to watch as we join ex Nascar driver, Larry, and his heavy-drinking mechanic, Deke, who having been kicked out of the 'circuit', decide to rob a supermarket to get the money for the 'speed they need'. Yes, this film is full of quirky dialogue, but that's what makes it so watchable. Then they pick up free-spirited call girl, Mary Coombs, and go on the lam. Good performances all around. Susan George's American accent is good, and Vic Morrow as the police captain who has a constant feud with Larry throughout. The 69 Dodge Charger is a cool car, too. But the film is slightly marred by the surprise downbeat ending, but is still great entertainment getting there.

I had very fond memories of DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY after seeing it many years ago . The ending is very memorable and featured in the title sequence of the popular Lee Majors show THE FALL GUY and every teenage boy can can remember a Susan George movie I saw the movie again a few nights ago and I was very disappointed with it . The central plot of carrying out a heist is a sound one but doesn't seem very well developed and seems more of an excuse to kick start the movie into a road chase . I've always thought that if Peter Fonda had a birth name of Jones and was related to a bunch of factory workers then there would have been no way that he'd have become a movie star and seeing him in DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY does nothing to change my opinion . The role of Deke seems to have been written for Jack Nicholson therefore Adam Roarke does a very bad impression of Jack Nicholson while it's obvious that in many scenes Susan George's voice is dubbed which is very distracting . Yeah I know a lot of women will confirm that their husbands get distracted by an on screen appearance from Ms George but that's not what I meant But perhaps the worst aspect to the movie is the dialogue which tries to be very clever and ends up being very unnatural and forced . Take this example : " Every bone in her crotch . That's what I'm gonna break " Does that sound witty or just plain silly ? I could have used countless other examples too Mind you this movie did make a fairly large profit in relation to its production costs but it is rather obvious here that the road movie is a very self limiting genre and if you can't remember the 1970s you probably won't think much of DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY

This is an excellent, fun, fast moving cops 'n robbers car chase movie. Susan George is great (she's done a few car chases hasn't she, I'm thinking Eyewitness?) I do wonder why she hasn't done too many movies. Adam Roarke is good too as Peter Fonda's sidekick. If you like fast cars and surprise endings, this is a good movie to watch. The surprise ending to this is so unexpected, nobody could've seen it coming. the most surprisingest surprise ending. i give this movie 10 out of 10

Yes, DMCL is shot well. Yes, the car chases are great. And yes, if '70's kitch is what you seek, you'll find plenty of it here. But that's not why I love the movie. The reason I love the movie is this : the characters. I've read other users comments regarding the lack of writing or character motivation, and there is validity to that. But hey, the selling point of the film wasn't an in-depth look at people, the selling point was watching Peter Fonda and Susan George ram their car into several other cars. But I digress, what I love about the characters (and what I hate about the characters in most action movies today) is that they are totally unlikeable. They even hate each other. Fonda is a complete jerk to everyone. Susan George rhymes with rich and Rorke is weak and ineffectual. Hey, most the time the characters don't like each other. And it's my opinion that these characters are unlikeable by design. Think about it: when was the last time you went to the movies and the main characters were people you were suppose to dislike? Rare is it that modern filmmakers will take that chance, Even more impressive, somehow you end up routing for these people. Bottom line, it's a good chase movie, with solid performances by two 70's icons in thier prime. If you manage to catch it, you'll probably have a good time.

I too watched DMCL again last month after a period of many years, and I have to say that I love it, even though it's truly crap. The dialogue's hackneyed, the plot's over-simplistic and filled with randomly-inserted chunks of juvenile self-indulgence and Susan George's performance tends to make me claw at my ears like a mangy dog but if, like me, you hate what the computer age has done to the car chase, you can't help but enjoy it. The fact is, you've got a bright yellow '69 Charger at full pelt, outrunning a bunch of genuine Mopar pursuit cars and being rammed by a helicopter - filmed on a road, with a camera. What more do you want? In terms of real action, with no digital effects, speeded-up film or dodgy miniatures, it's up there with The Gumball Rally. And yes, the scene with Vic Morrow standing at that crossroads as the helicopter swoops down to meet him does have a certain resonance. This film is pretty poor, make no mistake, but as an example of how cars were crashed in the good old days I reckon it should be in a museum...