Writer-director Richard Brooks tried to give this 1971 caper flick (which was released in theaters as $) a sardonic twist, but it ranks among his lesser efforts. Warren Beatty stars as Joe Collins, a bank-security expert who enlists the aid of personable hooker Dawn Divine (Goldie Hawn) in a scheme to steal $1.5 million from the Hamburg safety-deposit boxes of a black-marketeering Army sergeant (Scott Brady), a courier for the Vegas mob (Robert Webber), and a German narcotics kingpin (Arthur Brauss). After discovering that they've been robbed, the original crooks join forces to catch the fleeing thieves. Brooks, whose films (including Blackboard Jungle, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and In Cold Blood) are notable for strong character development, here lavishes too much attention on the supporting players, who nearly overshadow the stars (which is not hard, since Hawn's trademark kookiness seems obtrusive, and Beatty's performance is stoner-level low-key). On top of that, the plot complications are just confusing enough so that Dollars sometimes makes no sense. DVD extras include two brief promos—”How to Play the Leading Man” and “How to Pull Off a Heist”—spotlighting other films in Sony's “Martini Movies” line. Optional. (E. Hulse)
Dollars
Sony, 120 min., R, DVD: $19.95 Volume 23, Issue 6
Dollars
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