$ (Dollars) (1971)

After the success of Bullitt, crime movies felt the need to include high-velocity audience grabbers. The same year as The French Connection, $ (Dollars) featured a bizarre, laughably long -- it lasts more than twenty minutes -- chase scene with almost no dialogue and a rather shrill score by Quincy Jones. Was this a comment on the trend? More likely, it was director Richard Brooks' attempt to catch up with the times. Brooks had made a number of important Hollywood movies (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood) and was probably feeling pressure from the new wave of young filmmakers weaned on a French disregard for rules. $ was his attempt at the "avant-garde," which may also account for the film's wild swings in mood and tone. Regardless, Warren Beatty's charm and Goldie Hawn's winsome good looks help make the movie a pleasant bit of 1970s fun. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide