Review of Marathon Man (1976) by Stuart B — 26 Mar 2011

I've been watching quite a number of 70s thrillers recently, from The Conversation to The French Connection, and although at times this was a suspenseful and well acted movie, too often it felt like it was yearning to be accepted in the same realms as those classics.

It seemed to try too hard at every turn, making itself seem more important than it actually was. It felt way too convoluted without ever really giving any insight to what was really going on, and the director's intentions were so rarely revealed I too often lost interest.

However, what held it together was some awesome performances from Hoffman (I love Hoffman's work in the 70s, it makes it all the more painful to see what he releases nowadays) and Olivier in particular.

There's also a wonderful grittiness to the movie which is to be expected of 70s genre types, using the greys, blacks and browns effectively. But while those moments, along with the now infamous torture scene elevate the movie above something truly monotonous, too often it felt like it just didn't quite have the strength of script to make it a classic.