Marathon Man | Teen Ink

Marathon Man

November 18, 2013
By katemccarthy GOLD, San Francisco, California
katemccarthy GOLD, San Francisco, California
10 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Live every week like it&#039;s shark week.&quot;<br /> --30 Rock


WARNING: THIS FILM CONTAINS INTENSE DUSTIN HOFFMAN ACTING, EVIL SPIES AND MORE JARRING CLOSE-UPS THAN A HIGH SCHOOL HEALTH CLASS. The 1976 film Marathon Man is calling your name down at Blockbuster! Babe, a young graduate student and aspiring marathon runner in New York City (Dustin Hoffman) struggles to put together the pieces of his mysterious, fragmented family. Meanwhile, he is unwittingly embroiled in the criminal activity of a psychopathic German dentist (Laurence Olivier) who makes Babe his direct target. Once you start watching, you become so invested in the characters and mysteries of this movie that it’s impossible to look away. Marathon Man was adapted for the screen from the conspiracy thriller by William Goldman (The Princess Bride, anyone?) and directed by John Schlesinger with a creepy score by Michael Small. The film’s line, “Is it safe?” is ranked on AFI’s “100 Years…100 Movie Quotes,” and the film also makes the cut for “100 Years…100 Thrills.” Laurence Olivier scored a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for his role as the sadistic Dr. Szell. If any teens have a serious fear of dentists, maybe they should stick to Wreck-It Ralph, but otherwise this intense, highly entertaining and adrenaline-filled movie is worth it — for the German accents if nothing else!


The author's comments:
This column, along with all my others, was originally for my school's newspaper. My column is called "Take Two--A second look at films you might have missed" and all the movies I review are older ones that I love, and hope other teens will enjoy as well.

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