So says Mailer (Ryan), head of the Syndicate when he meets Macklin (Duvall) in a horse auction. Macklin has been robbing Mailer's operations, to make him pay compensation for the death of his brother, who the Syndicate had killed, because he and Macklin inadvertently hit a Syndicate owned bank. Mailer carries on " We take in $250 grand by noon on a good day" trying to make Macklin feel small and put his compensation demand into some perspective. "I don't care" shoots back Macklin "As long as you pay". Mailer doesn't pay of course, and sends hit men instead to kill Macklin, his partner in crime Cody (Joe Don Baker)and Macklin's moll, Bett (Karen Black). This movie is one of a series of great heist / mob / thriller movies that came out in the early seventies, and reminded me a lot of other classics such as Point Blank or Charley Varrick (incidentally another great role for Baker in that movie.)There are no over the top action scenes, rather everything is cut to the bare essentials. The scene where Macklin and Cody buy a car from hick brothers Chemey (Richard Jaeckel)and Buck (the wonderful Bill McKinney)is superb, with early seventies stalwart Sheree North accusing Cody of trying to rape her when he rebuffs her advances, in such a cool and laconic way I laughed out loud. There are guilty pleasures to be had too, when Cody lays out a female telephone operator with a single vicious punch. All the heists are carefully planned and executed and Macklin and Cody are the ultimate professionals, working calmly and coolly under fire, while Bett drives the getaway car. The movie culminates in an assault on Mailer's home, which is better protected than any bank. "Getting out's gonna be a bitch" observes Cody as they plan their next move. Duvall and Baker really play off each other well in this movie, and their camaraderie and banter is a pleasure to watch, and one of the reasons the film is so enjoyable. Macklin offers Cody the chance to cut and run before the final show-down, as a thank you for his support up to that point,and a recognition that neither of them might make it out alive. "Nah! Think I'll stick around. See how this thing turns out!" he replies without even thinking about it. A tough thriller / heist movie with some eminently quotable dialogue,two great leads, a fine supporting cast that includes a young Joanna Cassidy as Mailer's young squeeze, and a simple plot line, that most movie goers will recognise has been re-made several times under different names: see Point Blank(Lee Marvin) or Payback (Mel Gibson)for example. This film can easily stand alongside those movies, and in many ways might even be superior, as it manages to deliver all of the thrills without any of the violence of Payback, or the voyeurism of Point Blank. Hard to believe this movie will be forty years old next year, as it still stands up as a great thriller.
Review of The Outfit
