was Doc a flawed hero or inept loser?

the robbery: He had to do it as Mr. Beynon (Ben Johnson) said, because Beynon had the power to put him back in prison or have him killed.

the train station: I assume he thought she wasn't really planning to kill him, although his suspicious nature could have been expected to make him more careful.

on the run: I think laying low wasn't an option because: 1. the gang had killed police, bystanders and bank employees; 2. Beynon's people were after him; and 3. crossing the border seemed like the only escape.

at the hotel: I don't know - maybe he thought carrying the gun was a giveaway that he was a fugitive. Far less than Rudy, his first impulse was not to kill people, so he may have just assumed the threat was over. Although he survived, he was never really shown as a habitual killer, but more an accomplished armed robber.

In the original novel by Jim Thompson there was no indication that anyone was a hero. As in most Thompson novels, the ending was a descent into a nonrealistic hell which was more psychological than representational of physical reality. There is nothing like a happy ending.

the only thing flawed and inept was the script. mcgraw's character was an absolute numb nuts.

What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?

The robbery -- he felt he had no choice but to pull the job for Benyon or else he'd go back to jail. Also, he's kind of a man of his word, in his own way, and felt like he owed a debt.

The train station -- she didn't kill him and wasn't interested in the money at all. So he was still on the fence. Now, if SHE left him with the money unattended, I would say it was much more likely (at this stage of the game) that he would have ditched her. Which is why it was a big deal (to her) when he came back to the station, money in hand, to retrieve her.

On the run -- well, a disguise would have been an okay thing to try. Laying low is a terrible plot for a film called "The Getaway" however. What did you want? "The hiding out?"

At the hotel -- Yes, he should have disposed guns more effectively. He COULDN'T kill Rudy because he wasn't quite a cold-blooded killer. He tended towards killing only in self defense. Hence, no "innocent" kills, cop kills, or even that guy they ran into in the alley at the end ("Just run away!")

He was not a genius by any means, and was definitely a flawed ANTI-hero. He was essentially good at robbery, and shotgun blasting.