Marathon Man | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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Where to Watch Marathon Man What to Know Critics Reviews Audience Reviews My Rating Cast & Crew Movie Clips Marathon Man More Like This Related Movie News Photos Marathon Man

82%

Tomatometer

49 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman) is a Columbia graduate student and long-distance runner who is oblivious to the fact that his older brother, Doc (Roy Scheider), is a government agent chasing down a Nazi war criminal (Laurence Olivier) -- that is, until Doc is murdered and Babe finds himself knee-deep in a tangle of stolen gems and sadistic madmen. Even his girlfriend, Elsa (Marthe Keller), becomes a suspect as everything Babe believed to be true is suddenly turned upside down.

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Marathon Man

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Critics Consensus

Marathon Man runs the gamut from patient mystery to pulse-pounding thriller, aided by Laurence Oliver's coldly terrifying performance and a brainy script by William Goldman.

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Critics Reviews

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Yet everything else here — the gritty supporting players, the conspiracy theories and the Central Park finale — marks the pinnacle of 1970s paranoia thrillers, as Hoffman’s Jewish graduate student is sucked into a shadowy world of postwar spooks...

Jan 25, 2024

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

A project that seemed a leaden cinch to be the kind of visceral thriller that makes audiences almost sich with excitement has fouled up right from the word go, and nothing in it works quite the way it was meant to.

Dec 2, 2023

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Edward Porter

Times (UK)

... Far-fetched but gripping.

Jan 23, 2023

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Tom Hutchinson

Radio Times

Schlesinger's film is not without its flaws, but it's a very classy package, and one particular scene involving dentistry will leave a lasting impression and is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 22, 2024

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

... you have to admit its ingredients are well-dosed, in a script that literally works as a puzzle. [Full review in Spanish]

Aug 12, 2023

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The movie cannily plops a complete innocent in the midst of people who are smarter, stronger, and savvier and then requires him to outlast them all in order to survive.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 5, 2023

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Audience Reviews

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Matt F Is it safe? Great movie and great cast. Doesn't help your fear of the dentist drill. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/28/24 Full Review David A Insanely gripping film. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/09/24 Full Review Scott M The first half of the film is slow and unwatchable. Roy Schieder is a good actor, but his character's motivations are dumb and make no sense. The second and third acts are much more suspenseful. Hoffman and Oliver are magnificient. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Chris H A great and chilling film with stunning performances from Hoffman and Olivier. What more can you ask. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/31/24 Full Review Kim P Scheider and Devane were almost as good in their roles as Hoffman and Olivier were in theirs! Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/08/24 Full Review Dave C The antagonist - LO, and script really make this! Young Hoffman is always a pleasure, so in all this is solid. However, there are segments that are just too slow and unnecessary and they bring it down from a 5* epic Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/15/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

John Schlesinger Director Dustin Hoffman Thomas Levy Laurence Olivier Dr. Christian Szell Roy Scheider Henry Levy William Devane Peter Janeway Marthe Keller Elsa Opel

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Marathon Man

Marathon Man: Official Clip - I Know Who You Are