View Full Version : Marathon Man is on...sweeeet!
DeSica
09-16-2007, 06:09 PM
I love this film. The book was good , too.
Directed by John Schlesinger, with Laurence Olivier, Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, Richard Bright, William Devane...and a screenplay by William Goldman based on his novel.
You can't go wrong, but...."is it safe?"
Isaac_Brody
09-16-2007, 06:55 PM
Yeah a good flick. This and Midnight Cowboy are great.
Mark Harris
09-16-2007, 07:04 PM
This film is really good, and about the ONLY time Olivier was ever good on screen...but man, did he knock this one out of the park.
Blaine
09-16-2007, 07:33 PM
Olivier...man, did he knock this one out of the park.You're absolutely right. One of the best antagonists ever. I also liked him in The Boys from Brazil and A Bridge Too Far.
Michael Anthony Horrigan
09-16-2007, 07:42 PM
Great, great movie.
Great performances all around.
Mike
StefanHaynes
09-16-2007, 09:27 PM
and about the ONLY time Olivier was ever good on screen
:shocked:
Mark Harris
09-17-2007, 11:02 AM
well, I feel like he is one guy who just never really got screen acting. His early work at the studios is sooo ham-handed that it's almost silly. He definitely got better as he got older, but as great as he must have been on stage, I just don't feel like he ever really got what screen acting is about. Unlike many others, even of his early years, like Gregery Peck, Spencer Tracy(one of the greats).
Phil Maker
09-17-2007, 11:05 AM
The scene where Dustin's taking a bath and the bad guys come to break in is one of the best scenes ever.
Mark Harris
09-17-2007, 11:06 AM
I also love how he gets the guys across the street to break into his house for him:)
StefanHaynes
09-17-2007, 11:47 AM
Mark, you ever seen Rebecca?
deedive
09-17-2007, 12:00 PM
Mark, you ever seen Rebecca?
beat me to it
Mark Harris
09-17-2007, 10:09 PM
yeah, more than once, and I think that is not a great performance from him. Just my opinion.
I'll put it in my netflix cue and check it out again to see if my mind changes on it...
I would compare it to Cary Grant. Grant walked, acted, and spoke like no human being ever has in the history of Man. But he was so expert at just being that thing, that creation he came up with, effortlessly. A more modern example is Gene Hackman. He might be one of the greatest screen actors ever, so amazingly adept at just being there, and not acting at all.
Side note, Selznick often accused Olivier of acting good only in his CU shots to force the studio to use those :)