Dirty Mary, Crazy LarryFor people like Mary Coombs (Susan George) and Larry Rayder (Peter Fonda), living fast and wild is the only way to do it. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is a car chase movie about the aforementioned duo; along with Larry's mechanic and literal partner-in-crime, Deke (Adam Roarke), they are on the run from the law after the robbery of a local supermarket, and are pursued by the sly Capt. Everett Franklin (Vic Morrow). What follows is an action packed flick with loads of high-speed chases through dusty country roads, and a race between the tenacious cops and the ne'er-do-wells with a devil may care attitude.
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The high points of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry are the intense car chases, with the belle of the ball being the chartreuse 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Larry drives after he ditches his Impala to throw off the cops. Dirty Larry, Crazy Mary is adapted from a 1963 novel by Richard Unekis called "The Chase", which was written at the advent of the "muscle car" boom in America. It presents a situation where there is the potential for a civilian-owned car to be far more powerful than the V6 sedans used by the police, and where a couple of crooks are actually able to outrun the police and getaway scot-free. In the world of Hollywood entertainment, this justified filling large spans of time in an action film with convincing chases, and being able to hold together these many set pieces with minimal narrative--a boon for stuntmen. This "minimal narrative" afforded opportunities to tell a story from a more "cinematic" point of view--letting the action add to the subtext. Most of the main characters in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry lob sharp dialogue full of punch and sarcasm back and forth, giving the conversations a pulp fiction feel. The popularity of chase movies like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry and others (like Vanishing Point) would also inspire filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino in his direct homage to the genre with his film, Death Proof--even the Fast and the Furious series borrows from films like this. Like the muscle cars that Larry drives, he and Mary are a part of a new generation, more wild and untamed than its predecessor. This plays to a metaphorical struggle in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, represented in the out of date police interceptors--the older generation--that fail to "get" them. The man most equipped to outfox the outlaws is Captain Franklin, who is himself a rather unorthodox cop--longer hair, a gruff attitude, and one who doesn't wear a badge or a gun. This simpatico gives him an edge when it comes to picking up on the various tricks Larry and Deke use to try to throw the cops off their trail; he figures out that they must be tuned into the police frequencies as they adapt to Franklin's repeated attempts to sweep them off the road. Their skirmishes occur out on wide open roads among farmland and orchards, leading to the labyrinthine walnut grove, where Larry believes the cops won't be able to cast a large enough net to catch him. Key visual motifs in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry include lots of tires peeling out, dust clouds kicked up, vehicles catching air time after driving off of ramps, copious amounts of trashed police interceptors, and of course, the chases. With tense confrontations and dust-covered action in the wide open countryside, the film recalls elements of the Wild West, inheriting the mantle that made that one-time popular style of filmmaking so endearing. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry races toward an over-the-top, climactic encounter between the Charger and a helicopter as Franklin and Larry trade verbal taunts with each other across the two-way radio. And who can forget that shocker of an ending?
Larry and Deke are undoubtedly anti-heroes, willing to hold the family of the supermarket manager hostage while they rob the store. The duo plan to spend the money on buying a souped-up race car so that Larry can realize his dream of being a NASCAR driver. Larry got sick of trying to work for the money, and Deke reveals that his alcoholism has left him with nothing but burnt bridges on the circuit. Larry seems a little too comfortable at playing the outlaw, so it's questionable whether Larry actually made a serious effort, or if he was just looking for an excuse to unload all his troubles and cause some havoc. Larry seems indifferent to the suffering he causes, whether he's being insensitive to Deke, or when he's neglectful, cruel, or even abusive to Mary. Larry never really comes across as anything other than a selfish jerk, charismatic as he may be with his big smile, long hair, and swagger--he's the kind of guy fathers warn their little girls about. Mary, on the other hand, is the kind of girl who should've listened to her daddy; Larry strides out of her house after their one-night stand, and she tracks him down and tags along against his wishes, claiming she "didn't have anything else to do". The truth is written all over Mary that, against her better judgment, she has a thing for Larry, and doesn't know when to walk away from a guy who's no good for her. There's a sense that Mary is desperate for love--hence her speed in falling into bed with Larry; this is also intimated by another encounter with her and a group of thugs at a flea market. Mary trades verbal barbs with Larry as she sits shotgun in his getaway car, but the infantile teasing is really more akin to flirting. Larry finds her childish antics a bit annoying; Mary probably thinks she's being seductive. Mary's actually a bit naive, and gets hurt too easily when Larry actually tries to run her off at one point, after crashing into a horse pen with the Impala. When Deke tells Larry that they need her to help repair the car, Larry goes back to implore--and manipulate--her into serving his interests once again. It's a sad and telling scene, where Mary turns her frown upside down, tears in her eyes, and agrees to come back like a beaten dog. For Mary, bad love is better than no love at all.
Recommended for: Fans of a high-octane chase flick, with lots of speed and destruction across vast stretches of wild, open road. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is a tribute to muscle cars and adrenaline-fueled cops-and-robbers chases, giving the audience a healthy rush of excitement from start to finish.
Larry and Deke are undoubtedly anti-heroes, willing to hold the family of the supermarket manager hostage while they rob the store. The duo plan to spend the money on buying a souped-up race car so that Larry can realize his dream of being a NASCAR driver. Larry got sick of trying to work for the money, and Deke reveals that his alcoholism has left him with nothing but burnt bridges on the circuit. Larry seems a little too comfortable at playing the outlaw, so it's questionable whether Larry actually made a serious effort, or if he was just looking for an excuse to unload all his troubles and cause some havoc. Larry seems indifferent to the suffering he causes, whether he's being insensitive to Deke, or when he's neglectful, cruel, or even abusive to Mary. Larry never really comes across as anything other than a selfish jerk, charismatic as he may be with his big smile, long hair, and swagger--he's the kind of guy fathers warn their little girls about. Mary, on the other hand, is the kind of girl who should've listened to her daddy; Larry strides out of her house after their one-night stand, and she tracks him down and tags along against his wishes, claiming she "didn't have anything else to do". The truth is written all over Mary that, against her better judgment, she has a thing for Larry, and doesn't know when to walk away from a guy who's no good for her. There's a sense that Mary is desperate for love--hence her speed in falling into bed with Larry; this is also intimated by another encounter with her and a group of thugs at a flea market. Mary trades verbal barbs with Larry as she sits shotgun in his getaway car, but the infantile teasing is really more akin to flirting. Larry finds her childish antics a bit annoying; Mary probably thinks she's being seductive. Mary's actually a bit naive, and gets hurt too easily when Larry actually tries to run her off at one point, after crashing into a horse pen with the Impala. When Deke tells Larry that they need her to help repair the car, Larry goes back to implore--and manipulate--her into serving his interests once again. It's a sad and telling scene, where Mary turns her frown upside down, tears in her eyes, and agrees to come back like a beaten dog. For Mary, bad love is better than no love at all.
Recommended for: Fans of a high-octane chase flick, with lots of speed and destruction across vast stretches of wild, open road. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is a tribute to muscle cars and adrenaline-fueled cops-and-robbers chases, giving the audience a healthy rush of excitement from start to finish.