+6
Marathon Man
This is one of those films where I’m wondering why everything needed to happen to begin with. The kind of movie where one shouldn’t think too much about the plot because the movies unravels slightly.
That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. It’s actually good. It mostly hinges on Olivier and Hoffman’s performances.
We begin with a incident of road rage that is over the top, even for New York. This leads to a crash that takes both mens lives, and from this event one man’s life will be turned upside down.
That Man is Babe, who’s father was a victim of McCarthyism and committed suicide, an act that haunts Babe. His brother, Doc, works for some sort of shadowy organization, but poses as a oil salesman.
The man who dies is the brother of a wanted Nazi war criminal names Szell, played by Olivier, who does work locating other Nazis for Docs organization. His brother had access to diamonds in a safe deposit box that Szell had stolen from Jews in his Nazi camp. For some reason, Szell decides to start killing off couriers or anyone that he considered a threat to these diamonds.
I guess the question is, why would he need to go through such actions that would bring unwanted attention to him? Why not simply gather the diamonds and take off? He has body guards.
Putting it aside, there is some good moments of terror. The torture scene for example. And Olivier delivers such a cold and calculating performance as Szell he deserved that Oscar nomination. His scenes always stand out.
Hoffman is also pretty good in this. But so is Roy Schieder as Doc and William Devane as another agent.
But that’s what you get mostly here. Some stand out performances, a few moments of genuine thrills, but a plot that doesn’t make much sense.
A good film regardless, and one I’ve been meaning to watch for a long time.