Jun. 29, 2003 - 8:06 pm
this was another film that i decided i needed to watch based on the heroes and villains list that i've been talking about so much recently. the villain in this is an insane Nazi dentist sort of guy who starts killing all sorts of people. i didn't realize until i actually watched the film that the villain, Dr. Szell is actuallly played by the great Laurence Olivier and he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance.
ok, so this is about Dr. Szell coming back to the U.S. from his hideout in South America. it's sort of based on a true story. anyway, he was this nuts torture fiend high in the Nazi ranks during WWII and was actually called the White Angel because of all of his white hair. plus it sounds scary. so he comes back to NYC to get this stash of diamonds that he has in a safe deposit box in a bank, but he's worried about Roy Scheider's character (Doc) giving him away. he then stabs Doc, but Doc is able to drag himself all the way to his brother's apartment. this is where Babe (Dustin Hoffman) comes into the picture. Dr. Szell's people realize that Doc made it back to Babe and they think that he probably told him something. what, they don't know. they then abduct Babe and start trying to get the info out of him by any means necessary.
oh, and Babe is training to run a marathon throughout the movie. and there's a big on-foot chase scene. that's the justification for calling it Marathon Man.
this movie has perhaps the worst torture scene in film history. when Dr. Szell finally gets his hands on Babe, he puts him in his dentist's chair and gets a guy to hold him down. then he starts drilling into his teeth and nerves with his drill. he keeps asking him calmly "Is it safe?" and Dustin Hoffman doesn't know what to tell him. That's pretty scary when you don't understand the question and you're about to get tortured for supposedly knowing the correct answer.
but this film was very entertaining and quite violent and frightening. good acting from pretty much everyone. for some reason, i think Roy Sheider's a bit out of place, but i guess that's my only real complaint.