William Goldman’s novel was compulsive reading and this film version is certainly watchable… although I also admit it’s not exactly fun. New York is particularly dirty and dingy here, full of muggers, and secret agents, and nasty Puerto Ricans who sit on the front steps and hassle Dustin Hoffman. There’s an underlying feeling of unpleasantness throughout the whole thing – even Hoffman’s relationship with his brother, which is meant to be the heart of the film, is full of betrayal and lies.
Hoffman is in very good shape but he runs weirdly – it’s a shame all his method preparation didn’t involve some coaching from a proper runner. Hoffman isn’t too old to play someone doing their thesis but they should have covered his age somehow (eg he stuffed around for ten years d or so before deciding to go back to college – something that happens all the tie). Laurence Olivier is effective, as is William Devane; Roy Scheider’s performance was superb, but I didn’t think much of Marte Keller.
The twists remain great if you haven’t read it already; there are some bravura sequences – the dentist torture still packs a punch, and it’s done mostly through sound. Some logic problems – Hoffman staying in his apartment after Devane’s told him that the people who killed his brother will come after him; Hoffman taking out three hired killers. I agree with Goldman that Babe should have shot Szell in cold blood at the end – if anyone deserved it, the Nazi did. (Robert Towne wrote the ending that was used.)
NB If you’re a fan of this film, try to catch the special features on the DVD. There’s two making-of featurettes, one contemporary – introduced by Richard Evans in his prime, one thirty years on. Many of the same anecdotes are trotted out; Hoffman makes an unconvincing rebuttal to the famous “try acting” story involving him and Oliver (he doesn’t say it didn’t happen, but says Olivier then added “of course I’m one to talk”; he also claims the reason he didn’t go to sleep for three days was partly because he liked to party).
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