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Marathon Man

Marathon Man

Thriller · Crime · Drama · 1976

A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

Movie details

Marathon Man

“One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name”

1976 Thriller · Crime · Drama 2h 6m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Marathon Man?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Outfit

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A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Schlesinger

Written by

William Goldman

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman

Thomas 'Babe' Levy

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Dr. Christian Szell

Roy Scheider

Roy Scheider

Henry 'Doc' Levy

William Devane

William Devane

Janeway

Marthe Keller

Marthe Keller

Elsa Opel

Fritz Weaver

Fritz Weaver

Professor Biesenthal

Richard Bright

Richard Bright

Karl

Court is in session

Put Marathon Man on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.