Controrapina

Lee Van Cleef at his most facially challenged plays a retired safeman, who comes back from Mexico to New York to do one job for a friend's kid.

Includes most of the cliches one would expect from a "last gig"- film, but redeems itself with nice NY locations, comedy (some intentional) and Lee Van Cleef. Recommended as a time- passer.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Highly entertaining Antonio Margheriti heist film stars Lee Van Cleef as the self-assured former safe-cracker lured into one last job for the sake of the son (Albert) of a former close associate. Only problem is Albert is apparently in over his head and various sinister interests are pitted against one another as the heist goes fatally awry.

Bares more than a little resemblance to "The Mechanic" in many respects, but that's not to say it doesn't hold up in its own right with a few neat plot twists and turns to keep you guessing. Van Cleef is well supported by Albert as the young buck with a plan to steal millions in diamonds from flamboyant crook Roy Brocksmith (in his film debut), while the 'black fist of fury' Ron Van Clief has a prominent supporting role as one of Brocksmith's goons, showcasing his karate talents in one memorable fight scene.

Karen Black's role conveys more depth than it appears, and its really her presence that suggests this crime-caper is better than the average tripe. Her role brings an entirely different dimension to the picture, and more importantly, adds a very satisfying and memorable plot twist to savour. Great cast, plenty of violence and explosions typical of a Margheriti picture, shouldn't be easily dismissed.

A rare misfire from Italian director Antonio Margheriti, made during his difficult period in the 1970s. He wowed throughout the 1960s with his extremely good gothic horrors, and he came back roaring into life in the 1980s with his Vietnamese battle epics, but In between he made some quite meandering fare, of which this is a good example. The title seems to rip-off the earlier British thriller and they've even cast Stacy Keach-lookalike Edward Albert. Lee Van Cleef, with a twinkle in his eye, plays a safecracker hired for one more job, but double crossings are in store. The heist is dull, cast members like Karen Black and Lionel Stander can do very little, and the whole thing is extremely stodgy.

After the spaghetti western craze in Italy died out in the mid-1970s, Lee Van Cleef still found himself wanted by Italian filmmakers for several years afterwards, "The Squeeze" being one of his post-westerns. Although Van Cleef was in his 50s when this movie was made, he still had the stuff that made him a star, and he gives a solid performance here. Another good performance in the movie comes from Karen Black, who is pretty convincing as a kind of ditzy neighbor who enters the life of Van Cleef's character. The movie also has better than average production values for an Italian production for the time, with on-location filming in New York City that gives the movie an authentic feeling at times. However, despite all this good stuff, the movie is still somewhat of a struggle to watch. It's very talky, with long stretches with nothing happening. A few more action sequences would have helped considerably. There are a couple of twists in the final few minutes, but it's too little too late. In short, the movie is probably only for die hard fans of Lee Van Cleef during an unusually slow night.

...there's quite a bit to dislike in THE RIP-OFF (as the Goodtimes Home Video VHS release tagged this movie): Karen Black overacts hysterically (as do several of the dubbed German supporting players), Edward Albert looks like he was on a margarine diet during shooting, and whoever mixed the substandard musical score into the soundtrack should have been executed. But Lee Van Cleef, Lionel Stander and Robert Alda all perform well above the call of this duty; the dialogue is frequently witty, highlighting a generally intriguing premise (Van Cleef is lured back from pseudonymous exile as a Mexican rancher to perform one last safecracking job in order to keep New York gangsters from killing Albert); and the cheap 16mm location cinematography of New York in early January is oddly compelling. As things go for what's usually termed "European Trash Cinema," this is a nice little curd of cheese worthy of dropping five bucks on at better Wal-Marts everywhere...