Roger Etienne

Marathon Man -- Dustin Hoffman (Rainman) plays the likeable graduate student and marathon runner of the title, unwillingly trapped in a killing game of intrigue involving a Nazi fugitive, Christian Szell.

Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood ("Letters from Iwo Jima," "Flags of Our Fathers"), a well-known, long-standing jazz aficionado, delivers a compassionate portrait of jazz visionary Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. Eastwood, who won a Golden Globe for Best Director for this film, also paints a vivid portrait of the jazz world in all its complexity. Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winner Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland," "Phone Booth"), as Parker, provides a multifaceted performance that helps provide an understanding of the man's genius, and tragedy. Co-starring Diane Venora ("The Insider," "Heat"), who along with Whitaker was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in this picture, Bill Cobbs ("Night at the Museum," "The Hudsucker Proxy"), John Witherspoon (the "Friday" movie series, TV's "The Wayans Bros.") and Tony Cox ("Bad Santa," "Epic Movie"). This music-driven film was an Academy Award-winner for Best Sound.

One of today's most gifted and brilliant actresses, Jill Clayburgh, brings her special sensitivity to the role of Barbara Gordon, a successful television documentary producer who became hopelessly dependent on tranquilizers. But this is much more than a story of addiction and withdrawal; it is an examination of the success syndrome that affects the lives of people whose career triumphs are achieved at great personal sacrifice. It is the dramatic and suspenseful story of one woman's survival in a battle for her sanity- and her life. In this urgent quest, she must discover her inner strength, independence, and ability to be truly happy.

One of today's most gifted and brilliant actresses, Jill Clayburgh, brings her special sensitivity to the role of Barbara Gordon, a successful television documentary producer who became hopelessly dependent on tranquilizers. But this is much more than a story of addiction and withdrawal; it is an examination of the success syndrome that affects the lives of people whose career triumphs are achieved at great personal sacrifice. It is the dramatic and suspenseful story of one woman's survival in a battle for her sanity- and her life. In this urgent quest, she must discover her inner strength, independence, and ability to be truly happy. (English)