Marathon Man is a thriller/spy story where tension builds up like in very few other films, and it is guaranteed to leave you emotionally exhausted at the end. The pacing of the film is intentionally slow, yet surprises are at every turn and the plot is complicated enough to leave you scratching your head in more than one occasion. Like quite a few movies from the Seventies, Marathon Man is bleak and unglamorous yet strangely fascinating in its portrayal of underground mysteries of an apparently normal world.
It is, however, the performances that really make this movie. Dustin Hoffman had already made a big name for himself by giving intense performances in completely different films like Midnight Cowboy and especially The Graduate, and he is perfectly convincing as 'Babe' , the student whose life is turned upside down as he unwillingly crashes into a dark world of undercover affairs and greed. It is particularly striking that at this time Hoffman was already 38 years old, yet he looks so youthful he is completely convincing as a man in his middle twenties.
The picture, however, belongs to Laurence Olivier. Olivier, one of the most acclaimed stage actors of all time, might have starred in a few mediocre pictures late in his career, but watching him in Marathon Man will blast away any doubt about his real acting capabilities; Olivier's portrayal of former Nazi Christian Szell is absolutely extraordinary as he plays with subtlety one of the most abhorrent characters ever seen onscreen. Probably some of you heard about the infamous scene where Szell uses dental instruments with dispassionate ease as means of torture, but make no mistake: Oliver's portrayal never comes off as over-the-top or exaggerated, and it's the smaller nuances that really show Szell as a chillingly repulsive character.
The movie starts with a car accident in New York City resulting in the death of two old men. One of these men, we will find out, is the brother of the infamous Christian Szell, a sadistic Nazi criminal who disappeared after WWII. Szell was able to escape to South America and live there hidden from international justice, but with the death of his brother he is now the only person with the key to a fortune in stolen diamonds deposited in a safe box in the Big Apple.
Meanwhile, Babe's brother 'Doc' (Roy Scheider), who works for a mysterious government agency yet to Babe's knowledge is simply a successful businessman, barely escapes an assassination attempt in Paris. Soon Doc finds out from another agent that Szell's brother was killed in an accident; when he receives a letter in which Babe narrates that two men had mugged him near Central Park, he flies to New York to pay a visit to his brother.
I'll stop here with the plot because I believe that you need to know as little as possible in advance to really enjoy the film. It is sufficient to say that Babe will discover things he never suspected, and he will be caught up in a dangerous game where his life will be threatened in a series of heart-pounding moments.
The supporting actors are uniformly good, from Roy Scheider as Babe's brother Doc, to Marthe Keller as Babe's love interest, to William Devane as Doc's co-worker. What puts this film down a little bit is the fact that the plot gets a bit muddled at times; in particular, there is a couple of scenes where the motivations behind some of the characters' actions and decisions are pretty much imperscrutable. It is possible that this was a deliberate choice of the filmmakers: after all, we are dealing with some of the most untrustworthy people on Earth. However, those scenes can be distracting, as while the movie is moving on the viewer is left elaborating on the reasons of what just happened.
Visually, the film is every bit as Seventies-looking as Taxi Driver , and the fact that New York City had such a particular feel to it during that time will only make things more enjoyable. This is certainly not the polished, fake look of modern blockbusters, but rather a dirty urban maze where dark secrets could be at every corner. To complete the movie's old-but-fascinating feel, there are also multiple references at the McCarthy era.
Overall, Marathon Man certainly gets my recommendation. Only one thing: just don't watch it the same day you have to go to the dentist.
7.5/10
It is, however, the performances that really make this movie. Dustin Hoffman had already made a big name for himself by giving intense performances in completely different films like Midnight Cowboy and especially The Graduate, and he is perfectly convincing as 'Babe' , the student whose life is turned upside down as he unwillingly crashes into a dark world of undercover affairs and greed. It is particularly striking that at this time Hoffman was already 38 years old, yet he looks so youthful he is completely convincing as a man in his middle twenties.
The picture, however, belongs to Laurence Olivier. Olivier, one of the most acclaimed stage actors of all time, might have starred in a few mediocre pictures late in his career, but watching him in Marathon Man will blast away any doubt about his real acting capabilities; Olivier's portrayal of former Nazi Christian Szell is absolutely extraordinary as he plays with subtlety one of the most abhorrent characters ever seen onscreen. Probably some of you heard about the infamous scene where Szell uses dental instruments with dispassionate ease as means of torture, but make no mistake: Oliver's portrayal never comes off as over-the-top or exaggerated, and it's the smaller nuances that really show Szell as a chillingly repulsive character.
The movie starts with a car accident in New York City resulting in the death of two old men. One of these men, we will find out, is the brother of the infamous Christian Szell, a sadistic Nazi criminal who disappeared after WWII. Szell was able to escape to South America and live there hidden from international justice, but with the death of his brother he is now the only person with the key to a fortune in stolen diamonds deposited in a safe box in the Big Apple.
Meanwhile, Babe's brother 'Doc' (Roy Scheider), who works for a mysterious government agency yet to Babe's knowledge is simply a successful businessman, barely escapes an assassination attempt in Paris. Soon Doc finds out from another agent that Szell's brother was killed in an accident; when he receives a letter in which Babe narrates that two men had mugged him near Central Park, he flies to New York to pay a visit to his brother.
I'll stop here with the plot because I believe that you need to know as little as possible in advance to really enjoy the film. It is sufficient to say that Babe will discover things he never suspected, and he will be caught up in a dangerous game where his life will be threatened in a series of heart-pounding moments.
The supporting actors are uniformly good, from Roy Scheider as Babe's brother Doc, to Marthe Keller as Babe's love interest, to William Devane as Doc's co-worker. What puts this film down a little bit is the fact that the plot gets a bit muddled at times; in particular, there is a couple of scenes where the motivations behind some of the characters' actions and decisions are pretty much imperscrutable. It is possible that this was a deliberate choice of the filmmakers: after all, we are dealing with some of the most untrustworthy people on Earth. However, those scenes can be distracting, as while the movie is moving on the viewer is left elaborating on the reasons of what just happened.
Visually, the film is every bit as Seventies-looking as Taxi Driver , and the fact that New York City had such a particular feel to it during that time will only make things more enjoyable. This is certainly not the polished, fake look of modern blockbusters, but rather a dirty urban maze where dark secrets could be at every corner. To complete the movie's old-but-fascinating feel, there are also multiple references at the McCarthy era.
Overall, Marathon Man certainly gets my recommendation. Only one thing: just don't watch it the same day you have to go to the dentist.
7.5/10