Basically, I love this movie and was delighted to rent it from Netflix recently.
But my, how the cinema has changed in 30 years. William Goldman's screenplay is fine, the cinematography is excellent, the direction great, the acting wonderful. Still -- it could have easily been trimmed by at least 20 minutes. Everything up to the point where Babe is kidnapped and brought to meet Szell is atmosphere and suggestion. The awkward library scene with Marthe Keller is one in which I found myself making the "speed it up already" hand gesture at the screen. That and similar scenes dragged to the point of annoyance. Had I not been watching with someone who had never seen the picture before, I would have been using the fast-forward button. I now believe that the backstory of Babe's father as a victim of Senator McCarthy and House Un-American Activities Committee was superfluous and largely irrelevant to the audience, either now or then. And lastly, the entire convoluted story (especially as set in Paris) of Szell, the diamonds, and the questionable loyalties of the covert-ops crew is so muddled as to be little more than what Alfred Hitchcock called "The Maguffin" - the supposed "secret" that serves only to keep the audience on the edge of its seats.
Enough for the criticism. What I did like were : the scenes where Babe is in training for the marathon...how he keeps the image of Jesse Owens in his head for inspiration. This serves him well when he has to literally run for his life. Like 1997's THE EDGE, you have an unlikely hero. A peace-loving individualist who finally gets to the point of having to fight, and proves his own strength. I love the portrait of a scrappy New York City that is steadily fading away, especially after 9/11. I enjoyed the plot device wherein Babe enlists the aid of his punkish Puerto Rican neighbors and finally earns their respect.
Two other sequences stand out and stand the test of time: In the Diamond District where Szell is recognized by two former camp survivors, and of course, the final confrontation inside the pumping station, where Szell tries to call upon the evil within himself and is ultimately defeated by it. (I don't think that's a spoiler!...) Yes, it's a great movie...needs a bit of trimming, but worth a viewing, for sure.
But my, how the cinema has changed in 30 years. William Goldman's screenplay is fine, the cinematography is excellent, the direction great, the acting wonderful. Still -- it could have easily been trimmed by at least 20 minutes. Everything up to the point where Babe is kidnapped and brought to meet Szell is atmosphere and suggestion. The awkward library scene with Marthe Keller is one in which I found myself making the "speed it up already" hand gesture at the screen. That and similar scenes dragged to the point of annoyance. Had I not been watching with someone who had never seen the picture before, I would have been using the fast-forward button. I now believe that the backstory of Babe's father as a victim of Senator McCarthy and House Un-American Activities Committee was superfluous and largely irrelevant to the audience, either now or then. And lastly, the entire convoluted story (especially as set in Paris) of Szell, the diamonds, and the questionable loyalties of the covert-ops crew is so muddled as to be little more than what Alfred Hitchcock called "The Maguffin" - the supposed "secret" that serves only to keep the audience on the edge of its seats.
Enough for the criticism. What I did like were : the scenes where Babe is in training for the marathon...how he keeps the image of Jesse Owens in his head for inspiration. This serves him well when he has to literally run for his life. Like 1997's THE EDGE, you have an unlikely hero. A peace-loving individualist who finally gets to the point of having to fight, and proves his own strength. I love the portrait of a scrappy New York City that is steadily fading away, especially after 9/11. I enjoyed the plot device wherein Babe enlists the aid of his punkish Puerto Rican neighbors and finally earns their respect.
Two other sequences stand out and stand the test of time: In the Diamond District where Szell is recognized by two former camp survivors, and of course, the final confrontation inside the pumping station, where Szell tries to call upon the evil within himself and is ultimately defeated by it. (I don't think that's a spoiler!...) Yes, it's a great movie...needs a bit of trimming, but worth a viewing, for sure.