The Marathon Man (1976)
A high stakes international cloak and dagger film along the lines of "Three Days of the Condor" released the year before. Here the ordinary citizen dragged into an unbelievable intrigue all around him is played by Dustin Hoffman, who also is training for a marathon. Hence the title.
The plot has some twists we have come to almost expect in movies of this kind, to the point that we would miss them if they weren't here--the good guy who is actually a bad guy, the girl with loyalties unknown and suspicious (though the lead male doesn't suspect a thing at first), and like the "Condor" movie as well as the more recent "Bourne" movies, our hero is alone against all these odds. The problem, which is part of the joy of the film, is simply: who do you trust?
No one.
The bad guy you might not realize at first is played by Laurence Olivier, in another of his rabbit out of a hat great performances. When Olivier and Hoffman finally cross paths, and wits, it's like the meeting of two eras of Hollywood. The setting for the final showdown is pretty amazing in its own right. The music is really atmospheric and a little different, and
All this said, the movie actually doesn't quite carry its velocity beyond the likely. It's fun and engaging without being gripping or dazzling or moving. Why? I think it's partly the writing, which is routine (both the plot and the dialog), and the direction, which is, well, routine. John Schlesinger is a very good director, and he has one gem in his crown, for sure, "Midnight Cowboy." But the effect here is closer to his later "The Falcon and the Snowman," where some great performances seem to get lost a little, just through lack of focus and pacing. And writing. A better movie with more aura is "Klute," shot in the same kinds of New York neighborhoods five years earlier.
A high stakes international cloak and dagger film along the lines of "Three Days of the Condor" released the year before. Here the ordinary citizen dragged into an unbelievable intrigue all around him is played by Dustin Hoffman, who also is training for a marathon. Hence the title.
The plot has some twists we have come to almost expect in movies of this kind, to the point that we would miss them if they weren't here--the good guy who is actually a bad guy, the girl with loyalties unknown and suspicious (though the lead male doesn't suspect a thing at first), and like the "Condor" movie as well as the more recent "Bourne" movies, our hero is alone against all these odds. The problem, which is part of the joy of the film, is simply: who do you trust?
No one.
The bad guy you might not realize at first is played by Laurence Olivier, in another of his rabbit out of a hat great performances. When Olivier and Hoffman finally cross paths, and wits, it's like the meeting of two eras of Hollywood. The setting for the final showdown is pretty amazing in its own right. The music is really atmospheric and a little different, and
All this said, the movie actually doesn't quite carry its velocity beyond the likely. It's fun and engaging without being gripping or dazzling or moving. Why? I think it's partly the writing, which is routine (both the plot and the dialog), and the direction, which is, well, routine. John Schlesinger is a very good director, and he has one gem in his crown, for sure, "Midnight Cowboy." But the effect here is closer to his later "The Falcon and the Snowman," where some great performances seem to get lost a little, just through lack of focus and pacing. And writing. A better movie with more aura is "Klute," shot in the same kinds of New York neighborhoods five years earlier.