Marathon (2002)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Amir Naderi

Release Date:

18 April 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A woman continuously solves crossword puzzles everywhere she goes; in subway trains, on buses, and on the streets of New York City. |

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Subway | Crossword Puzzle | Bathtub | Tour Bus

Cast

Sara Paul	...	Gretchen
Trevor Moore
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rebecca Nelson	...	Gretchen's mom (voice)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Alphaville Productions

Goofs:

Plot holes: Gretchen never completes puzzle number 27, though she stamps it as completed. Before she stamps it, in what appears to be clue 168 across/down the first letter is clearly still blank.

Movie Connections:

References Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)

A powerful and noisy film that has little to no dialogue

This film was visually captivating from the opening sequence. It is filmed in black and white with plenty of long and luxurious artistic compositions and detail studies. The viewer follows a beautiful and neurotic woman around New York City while she attempts to complete 77 crossword puzzles in 24 hours.

The film is refreshingly bereft of dialogue. In fact, the only real dialogue is a series of answering machine messages from her mother that slowly reveal the fine points of the plot and the roots of the woman's own neurosis.

The story is told through motion, emotion, ponderous detail studies and the odd answering machine messages. I found it refreshing to watch a movie that wasn't jammed full of incessant blathering where the writer obsessively tries to show me how brilliant they are. The plot points and moral of the story aren't verbalized every 15 minutes. This ain't no 'Sea Biscuit'.

Though it may not be for everyone, I give it top marks all around.