Marathon Man

One of the most successful films of the 1970s and I wonder why. It is a pretty average thriller, which will fully satisfy perhaps only fans of jogging and overcomplicated stories. However, for those who are afraid of going to the dentist, this is a must :) (11/05/2003)

Marathon Man is certainly a well made, atmospheric thriller, and I spent a nice two hours with it, but I have the feeling that the script doesn’t squeeze everything it could out of the material. There are a couple of excellent scenes, but I didn’t get the impression of a complex and flawless film. It’s effective, yeah, but not logically bulletproof. 8/10 (29/01/2011)

Recently I wrote a comment about the movie Taxi Driver and admired how the film remains relevant and impressive even after several decades. Marathon Man was made around the same time, but it gives the opposite impression, as its staleness can be felt from a distance. However, there is something worth mentioning. The strong cast led by the famous Laurence Olivier and the young Dustin Hoffman, who are usually associated with artistically ambitious projects, prevents us from seeing the real state of things. Even the few who express reservations in their comments do so with self-criticism worthy of a sect member confessing due to a lack of faith. In reality, Marathon Man was part of the usual commercial goods made for immediate consumption. German war criminals played the same role that Islamic terrorists play nowadays. John Schlesinger cannot consider Marathon Man the highlight of his career, but it is still a solid work. However, the fundamental weakness lies in the screenplay, which at times drags the film to the edge of parody, for example, when the mortally wounded brother crawls through the city to die in the hero's arms. The motivations of the characters and their mental processes often made me shrug my shoulders and shake my head. In my opinion, this deserved a 3-star rating in the 70s. Today, I inevitably have to go lower. Overall impression: 40%. (28/04/2016)

Is it safe? (23/07/2016)

I’ve reached a stage where I’m catching up on older cinema. At one point, I had to watch this gritty drama by director John Schlesinger. I certainly didn’t expect the film to grab me as much as it did. It’s true that for the first hour, you don’t really understand what’s happening on the screen or why the former Nazi is so relentlessly pursuing the student, played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman. But in the second half, the film reveals all its cards (and I can say that everything essentially fell into place as the creators likely intended from the beginning). I also thoroughly enjoyed the thriller sequences, where I was genuinely on the edge of my seat (the abduction of the protagonist from his apartment being a prime example). And that dentist scene was quite unpleasant. I definitely wouldn’t want to end up under the drill of the "White Angel," I’ll tell you that. A solid film in every respect, capable of truly surprising the audience with its twists. For me, it’s a well-deserved 7.5/10. P.S. Laurence Olivier was outstanding! (11/09/2023)