Cast: Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, Vic Morrow, Eugene Daniels, Kenneth Tobey, Roddy McDowall, Lynn Borden, Adrianne Herman, James W. Gavin. Screenplay: Lee Chapman, Antonio Santean, based on a novel by Richard Unekis. Cinematography Michael D. Margulies. Production design: Philip Leonard. Film editing: Christopher Holmes. Music: Jimmie Haskell.
"Dirty Mary" is Mary Coombs (Susan George), a petty thief and groupie who gets involved with Larry Rayder (Peter Fonda), a would-be NASCAR star, when he pulls off a supermarket heist with the aid of Deke Sommers (Adam Roarke), an alcoholic auto mechanic, and goes on a run that develops into a widespread, high-speed car (and helicopter) chase, masterminded by state police captain Everett Franklin (Vic Morrow). And that's pretty much all you need to know about Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, except that the title does a disservice to Deke, the third in the trio and the only close-to-interesting character in the film. Mary and Larry might as well be animated cartoons for all the humanity their characters generate, and George and Fonda play them accordingly. (George's manic performance, often lapsing into her native British accent, got on my nerves.) But Roarke makes some effort to provide some nuance to Deke, a loser whose fondness for the bottle makes him unemployable even though he's shown to be a master at making bashed-up automobiles run. He's also somewhat in love with Larry, his one chance at redemption. Otherwise, the real stars of the film are the cars, a 1966 Chevrolet Impala, a 1969 Dodge Charger, a bunch of Dodge Polara police cars, and that helicopter. You pretty much know how it's all going to end, and when it does it stops, having accomplished the inevitable with no need to point a moral or adorn a tale.
