Movie Review: Marlowe

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent modern day film noir. 

Like all good film noirs, a major reason this movie works is because of a wonderful sense of atmosphere. This film takes place in Hollywood of the late 1930's and it fully utilizes this setting to its advantage. While not everything may be perfectly true to this setting, this does not matter. What matters is that this movie creates its own dark and dangerous version of 1930's Hollywood that is completely engaging. Much of this is captured in the film's wonderful use of cinematography and lighting, which make this feel like a noir film of the 1940's in all the best ways. If you are a noir fan (like I am), there is little doubt that this film's visual style will delight you. David Holmes's atmospheric musical score also adds a lot to this movie's ambiance. The film also benefits from simply wonderful dialogue. This is the type of cynical hard-bitten dialogue that has helped give film noir its many fans. This is the type of dialogue that makes us wish we could talk like this in real life and makes these characters seem larger than life. There is also plenty of cynical and witty humor in this dialogue that is just as tough and hard-boiled as the serious lines. This humor is not only quite funny but it adds to the noir like atmosphere and tough feeling of this movie. The storyline is quite engaging and keeps you on the edge of your seat. True at times it can be needlessly complex but that is just part of the game in a Philip Marlowe movie. What matters is that this story never made me feel bored for even a second while watching it and the near two hours passed by quite quickly. It also has a wonderful feel of dread and suspense that is simply delightful. 

Now for the big question. How is Liam Neeson as Phillip Marlowe? The answer is really darn good. Humprey Bogart (who played the character in The Big Sleep (1946)) and Robert Mitchum (who played the character in Farewell My Lovely (1975)) will always be my favorite movie versions of Raymond Chandler's (who wrote the original books featuring the character) famous private detective and I also have a fondness for Dick Powell's version of the character in Murder My Sweet (1944). However Liam Neeson does a great job with the character and never once feels like he is copying any of the great actors who played the part in the past. Because of this it is easy to enjoy his take on the character without comparing it to the previous takes. Here he does a great job of capturing the cynical and world-weary nature of this interpretation of the character. He is also accompanied by a wonderful supporting cast including Jessica Lange, Diane Kruger and Danny Huston. Danny Houston channels his father, legendary director/actor John Houston, with a role very reminiscent of the character John Houston played in the brilliant noir, Chinatown (1974).

This film does have its faults though. Many of the supporting characters can at times feel like more like plot devices than actual characters, as there is little depth to them and little more to them than what they contribute to the plot. There are also quite a few moments in this movie that are too similar to scenes from many other noirs and those noirs did those scenes even better. Because of this, the movie may not be as memorable as it should be. 

All in all this is an excellent noir and a pure delight to those who (like me) love the genre.