Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974, PG)

Verbally referenced in the first half of Death-Proof (one of the two mock-exploitation films from his Grindhouse collaboration with Robert Rodriguez) and having similarites to several aspects of the second half of that film, we can be sure that Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is one of director Quentin Tarantino's many influences.  The big name actor in this movie is Peter Fonda (Easy Rider, Ghost Rider) as one half of the title characters (hint: he's not Mary).  The story starts with Larry and his friend Deke about to embark on a scheme that I could tell was no-good despite their tight-lipped vagueness.  Seriously I had them pegged as scumbags and disliked them from the beginning.  We also meet the trashy and loud Mary who gets herself insinuatede into Larry and Deke's plot.  It's mostly a car chase movie as the police try to catch the main characters and I found myself rooting for the police most of the time (the cop in charge of the manhunt also posesses several qualities not ideal for an officer of the law, but his actions didn't show a disregard for any bystanders unfortunate enough to cross his path... unlike our criminal anti-heroes).  While near the end enough conversations took place to where I could at least identify with the anti-heroes as characters, the only one I found myself "liking" (I'll go so far as to call it that) was Deke who was at least professional and his laconic nature revealed a certain maturity.  Also Deke (played by Adam Roark) reminds me of today's Alec Baldwin in face and in voice, so he's got that going for him.

Most of the car chase stunts turned me off, not because they were unimpressive (in fact, I shudder to think how many stunt-drivers were harmed in the making of this film) but because of the aforementioned disregard for life/health/wellbeing that cauesd the characters to think it was a good idea to do most of these things.  I imagine someone who loves fast cars and fast driving would warm up to the characters and the movie much faster than I would (I've gotten plenty of speeding tickets in the past, and it sucks[!], so I try to drive safely these days).  But I do have to admit there were some cool ideas in how to evade and in how to catch, and I did find the ending quite satisfying.  The target audience is pretty specific for this movie: gearheads who like car chase movies.  Also a film buff might have interest in seeing the movie, or it's an ok movie to have playing in the background at a party.  But if you're not one of thoses groups you could give this one a pass.  For me it's about 2 out of 5 stars: I didn't dig it all that much, but I can't say I hate it either because I got enough enjoyment to make up for my ire.