{"id":4511,"date":"2018-04-01T11:38:25","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T16:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/?page_id=4511"},"modified":"2021-09-19T14:17:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T19:17:35","slug":"marathon-man-1976-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/movie-reviews\/marathon-man-1976-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Man (1976) Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Marathon Man (1976)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Review by Grawlix (April 2018)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Score: A-<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   <\/i><\/b>\u201cIs it safe?\u201d There are certain movies that become identified with a single, iconic soundbite. Sometimes, this soundbite becomes so iconic, that it manages to eclipse the rest of the movie. \u201cI\u2019m mad as hell, and I\u2019m not going to take it anymore!\u201d became an enduring part of the cultural zeitgeist starting in the late 70s, but by the 90s not one person in ten could tell you the title of the movie from which it originated (<\/span>Network<\/span><\/i>). But if there was a soundbite that was even more iconic than \u201cI\u2019m mad as hell\u2026\u201d, it was \u201cIs it safe?\u201d, usually accompanied by a dentist\u2019s drill. In the early nineties, it seemed to be referenced everywhere, mostly through parody. It was so ubiquitous, that it wasn\u2019t uncommon to laugh at the joke without ever knowing it\u2019s origin. I certainly did. It wasn\u2019t until years later that I learned that the source of the joke was <\/span>Marathon Man<\/span><\/i>, and it wasn\u2019t until recently that I finally sat down and watched it. Shame on me.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> is a thriller, a slow burning fuse of a movie that takes its time setting up its dominoes before giving the first one a flick. Dustin Hoffman stars as Babe, a Poli-Sci grad student who\u2019s also training for a marathon, hence the title. Rob Scheider plays Doc, Babe\u2019s older brother. Babe believes Doc to be a simple businessman, but it quickly becomes clear that Doc\u2019s line of work is of the more clandestine variety. When one of Doc\u2019s missions goes awry, Babe winds up embroiled in an elaborate international conspiracy, forced to think on his feet when he\u2019s not running for his life.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Hoffman may have top billing, but the first half of the film belongs to Scheider. For the longest time my sole exposure to Scheider was through <\/span>Jaws<\/span><\/i>, in which he played a thalassophobic police chief forced to go on a very dangerous fishing trip, so it\u2019s been quite the belated revelation, watching his other movies, to discover how many badass roles he\u2019s actually played. Scheider\u2019s Doc is both sophisticated and sleazy, equally at home in an office or an alley. It\u2019s a potent mixture of suave and uncouth that reminded me more than a little of classic James Bond. It\u2019s never clear on which side of the law he\u2019s operating, but in a movie like this everyone\u2019s motives are usually suspect.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   I must sheepishly admit that I\u2019m less familiar with Hoffman\u2019s films, particularly his early ones, but if <\/span>Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> is any indication, I can see how he built his reputation. Thrown into the deep end of a situation he can barely begin to understand, Hoffman\u2019s Babe has the impressive ability to project strength and vulnerability simultaneously. Even when he\u2019s firmly in control of a situation (which is rarely) he seems on the verge of tears. Method or not, Hoffman\u2019s relentless performance adds significant emotional weight to a character who\u2019s maudlin sniveling could easily have rendered him unlikeable.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Rounding out the main cast is the late, great Lawrence Olivier who plays Christian Szell, an exiled Nazi war criminal forced to come out of hiding to handle affairs previously left to intermediaries. Olivier plays Szell as an elitist prick, but genial as long as he\u2019s getting his way. It\u2019s a common depiction of displaced tyrants, in my film watching experience, but Olivier snagged himself a Best Supporting statue for this one so it\u2019s possible he was one of the first to do it this way.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Regarding the infamous torture scene, it turns out that Szell was a dentist by trade. So, yeah, our bad guy is a Nazi dentist. Talk about the sum of all fears. His repeated intonation of \u201cIs it safe\u201d, as at this point, neither Babe, nor the audience knows what he\u2019s talking about, along with the almost affable initial examination he performs, is a chillingly convincing portrayal of an individual for whom torture has become trite and routine. The scene is honestly not that graphic, supposedly a more explicit version was trimmed down after test screenings, but much like the infamous ear scene in <\/span>Reservoir Dogs<\/span><\/i>, sound is enough. Between this movie and <\/span>Little Shop of Horrors<\/span><\/i>, I\u2019m amazed anybody ever went to a dentist again. Hoffman really sells the damage too. There\u2019s a subtle bit of makeup work, but the way he is constantly, seemingly unconsciously, tonguing the inside of his mouth for the rest of the movie is an appreciated commitment to continuity, especially these days when action stars routinely shrug off multiple gunshot wounds.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> is one of those movies of a type that people of a certain age tend to lament isn\u2019t made anymore, but while it is very good, it isn\u2019t perfect. The thriller elements sometimes trip over themselves and there are so many twists and double crosses that some character motivations are rendered muddled, if not outright indecipherable. Not that I need everything all wrapped up in a neat box by the end, but it\u2019s worth noting that creating complexity is easy. Having that complexity boil down to rational story when all the cards are on the table, that\u2019s the hard part. It\u2019s kind of like the difference between mixing up a Rubik\u2019s cube and solving one. I just have to assume that it all made sense in the book. Also, there\u2019s a romance side plot predicated on that much-maligned-these-days trope of a clumsy doofus blurting out \u201cI love you\u201d to a complete stranger being all that\u2019s apparently needed before they\u2019re in bed two scenes later. There is a little more to it than that, but honestly the full revelation generates more questions than it answers. Some contemporary critics seemed to think the whole old-Nazi-villain idea was already played out by this point, which is funny to me since filmmakers are still using it forty years later, only this time they tend to be zombies now too. Personally, I think it works pretty well considering the scheming of hidden 3<\/span>rd<\/span> Reich Nazis was still a plausible real-life idea at the time. But it does lead to a sequence late in the film that I won\u2019t discuss in detail, but I will say that, while it\u2019s maybe not so much culturally insensitive, it does suggest some implications that might strike a modern viewer as a bit tone deaf.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   As a thriller alone, I could give <\/span>Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> a comfortable recommendation, but it\u2019s the character work that really sets it apart. Hoffman, Scheider, and Olivier are all in top form, and their committed, nuanced performances kept me enthralled even through the slower parts of the story. The fact that it contains a cultural touchstone is the icing on the cake. If you\u2019re a fan of any of these things, I\u2019d definitely check <\/span>Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> out. It is safe. I promise.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Grade: A-<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good thriller buoyed great acting. <\/span>Marathon Man<\/span><\/i> works on multiple levels. Pick one.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side Note: If you\u2019re a fan of Assassin\u2019s Creed, there may be a bit of unexpected inspiration in this movie. Just something I figured I\u2019d mention if you were otherwise on the fence about watching.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trailer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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