Marathon Man

Name: Marathon Man
Director: John Schlesinger
Released: 1976

Synopsis

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

80
Empire
The only movie to truly deliver the visceral power of a dental drill, John Schlesinger’s taut, well written if far-fetched and baffling thriller, is the film that gives you a tooth ache in a good way.
80
TV Guide Magazine
A truly harrowing film, Marathon Man is a clever series of accidents that produce a nightmare thriller with an unrelenting attack on the viewer's nerves.
80
Newsweek
Marathon Man is an intelligent and largely satisfying thriller, written by William Goldman from his own novel, directed by John Schlesigner and photographed by Conrad Hall. But the most satisfying element is the work of Olivier, one of the few who turn acting into one of the great humane progressions of Western civilization. [11 Oct 1976]
75
Chicago Sun-Times
If holes in plots bother you, Marathon Man will be maddening. But as well-crafted escapist entertainment, as a diabolical thriller, the movie works with relentless skill.
70
Time Out
Adapted by William Goldman from his own novel, this thriller is quite effective in its basic set pieces, even if the overall thrust seems a trifle ponderous.
50
Variety
Film spends literally half of its length getting some basic plot pieces [from the novel by William Goldman] fitted and moving.
30
The New Yorker
The director, John Schlesinger, opts for so much frazzled corss-cutting that there isn't the clarity needed for suspense. The only emotion one is likely to fell is revulsion at the brutality and general unpleasantness.