Marathon Man (1976)

A taut thriller starring Dustin Hoffman, Lawrence Olivier, and Roy Scheider, directed by John Schlesinger, Marathon Man is a twisted, suspenseful experience until it cops out right at the end. Hoffman plays a graduate student who haphazardly gets caught up in the scheme of one of the last remaining and most ruthless Nazi fugitives, Christian Szell (Olivier)--and that's all I can tell you. The film is effective at providing loose threads and keeping them loose until the revelatory moment hits you and it all comes together. It's not that the film is cryptic--it was pretty easy to see where the film was going--it's just that you don't know how. There are also one or two logical points that don't quite work. Either way, it was a pleasure to see it play out. The film production is a bit rough around the edges, but it works in its favor. Tightly woven, slightly sadistic, and fascinating, I enjoyed the film fully until the very end. I found out later that the cop-out ending was forced by Dustin Hoffman. It's a shame they never filmed the original ending because from the summary, it looks like it would have been a far more satisfying and believable conclusion.

7/10

Sorcerer (1977)

Quite possibly the worst case of mis-titling in movie history, Sorcerer is a taut suspense thriller that has nothing to do with magic. A remake of the 1953 Henri-Georges Clouzot film Wages of Fear, Sorcerer holds its own. Roy Scheider stars as one of four criminals who, having fled to South America, picks up the highly dangerous job of driving two trucks loaded full of unstable nitroglycerin through the Amazonian jungle. The first hour of the picture sets up backstory, while also establishing the gritty, unrelenting mood of the picture. It's pretty intense on its own, but once the men finally get into their trucks and out on the road, the film really steps it up. Torrential downpours, road blocks, and all around mortifying suspense leave you no room to breathe. Mr Friedkin succeeds again in turning out a film that just doesn't let up. The score by Tangerine Dream is fantastic both in the film (I wanted more!) and as a standalone soundtrack, even though at first glance it might not seem appropriate. Check it out.

8/10

As a final note, the DVD copy of Sorcerer is subpar by modern standards, and I hope someday we can get the proper restoration and widescreen transfer this film deserves.