Film Checklist: Dustin Hoffman Pt 5, Marathon Man
“Is it safe?”
I’ve heard the parody for several years without ever knowing where it originated. Though we live in a world where any pop-culture parody can be identified via Wikipedia, I think I just forgot to ever find out. But, now that I’ve finally seen Marathon Man, I can finally understand the reference. Oh, and I’m now back on track with my Dustin Hoffman film checklist, though I am about 2-3 months behind schedule.
Finally, I’m revisiting a another film from John Schlesinger, who brought us the incredibly depressing Midnight Cowboy, in another Dustin Hoffman thriller. I had great enthusiasm for something akin to Straw Dogs and what I got was an equally impressive sense of tension and another role that I usually would not see Hoffman playing. I went into the film without any summary and I was pleasantly surprised to discover I was watching a slick and worthwhile thriller movie.
Marathon Man is an interesting thriller from the 70s that is touted for two major reasons: (1) Laurence Olivier’s performance as the vile Nazi dentist Dr. Szell and (2) Mr. Olivier’s chilling delivery of the line “Is it safe?” While it doesn’t try to be anything more than paranoia thriller, it comes off as unique based upon it’s characters and quick pacing and minor twists. It’s possible to say the film becomes a bit ludicrous near the end, but it is able to sell itself as a competent and solid picture.
Though the film is based on a novel, the story comes off as very simple. A US government agent, played by Rob Scheider, is keeping watch over a Nazi war criminal trying to retrieve a huge load of diamonds being kept by his brother. This agent is killed and tries to tell his brother, Dustin Hoffman, about what to do but fails to relay any information. In doing so, Dustin Hoffman’s character is now stuck in the middle of a troublesome search for the diamonds. A lot of time is spent trying to establish who is trustworthy and how Hoffman’s character can even fit in the story given his passive nature. The story feels cliche on paper, but it works very well as a film when all the elements of sound, dialogue, and acting are put together.
Dustin Hoffman is excellent, as usual. After seeing Straw Dogs and then seeing this film, I sometimes wonder why he didn’t stick with the passive-character-stuck-in-dangerous-situation roles throughout all of his career. Rob Scheider is a wonderful addition to the cast and is sufficiently smooth as the brother/government agent. However, Laurence Olivier is a chilling Dr. Szell and I’m shocked that such a brilliantly-concocted villain had been off my radar for so long. Though Szell comes off more cartoonish in the final minutes of the film, there’s no denying he is a calculating and sadistic man that almost feels like he could exist in reality.
Though the acting is a big part in this thriller, one of the strongest elements for me was the use of music. However, I’m not even sure if I can call it music as Michael Small’s contribution comes more in the form of uneasy tones and eerie pitches that reminded me a lot of the Joker music from The Dark Knight. Given the close-ups and the piercing sounds, Marathon Man could be considered a fine example of how to really engage an audience with the feelings of tension and panic. Each minute of the dentistry torture scene is unnerving and hard to ignore. Director John Schlesinger, most well-known for directing Midnight Cowboy, already has established himself as capable of handling these kinds of more intimate moments of uneasiness, though he raises his bar with this film alone.
Marathon Man might not be on everyone’s immediate to-watch list or even on several backlog checklists, but it certainly is a capable thriller with an extraordinarily well-crafted scene. The story plods during it’s first half, but the narrative does eventually develop into an engrossing tale. Though I originally was watching for Hoffman, Olivier is the highlight of the film and a worthy villain in film history.
Tags: dustin hoffman, is it safe?, john schlesinger, laurence olivier, marathon man, midnight cowboy, rob scheider, straw dogs