Marlowe

2023 - 3 - 17

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Irish Examiner"

Film review: Liam Neeson's overall performance is a solid addition ... (Irish Examiner)

Marlowe as an older and slightly wiser PI — which, in theory, makes Liam Neeson an ideal piece of casting as the grubby knight errant.

Not true, says Clare, who spotted Nico on the street only the day before, and soon Marlowe is up to his oxters in double-crosses, femmes fatales and ‘the old Sir Lancelot bullshit’ as he cris-crosses Los Angeles in search of truth and justice. Adapted by William Monahan and Neil Jordan, with Jordan directing,is too slowly paced to qualify as a thriller — but then, Jordan seems to be more interested in sketching a cinematic love letter to Old Hollywood glamour in general, and the character of Marlowe in particular. Philip Marlowe is the most accomplished private eye in movie history, with Humphrey Bogart’s turn in The Big Sleep (1946), following on from his portrayal of Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941), setting the standard for every shamus who followed.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Arts Desk"

Marlowe review - Liam Neeson wearily treads those mean streets (The Arts Desk)

Neil Jordan leans on threadbare noir pleasures, and his star's ageing, burnt-out private eye.

Jordan finessed Monahan’s script, adding a kink to the denouement which perhaps thoughtlessly sinks Marlowe’s moral purpose. Neeson at 70 is a dozen years older than Mitchum’s first belated Chandler turn, but his imposing size carries him through the action. Instead, with his DA’s office past played up, he’s drinking buddies with Detectives Ohls (Colm Meaney) and Green (Ian Hart). Why taxes Marlowe more than where, as Clare’s wealthy Irish mother Dorothy Quincannon (a cynically sultry Jessica Lange), the manager of the dangerously decadent Corbata Club, Floyd Hanson (wolfish Danny Huston) and gangster Lou Hendricks (waspish Alan Cumming, pictured above) offer themselves for inspection. Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep (1946) defined Marlowe when he was new, filming Bogart and Bacall in contemporary LA; Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973) updated Chandler’s elegiac novel as a farewell to hardboiled and hippie dreams, with Elliott Gould’s Marlowe hip and horrified; Dick Richards’ Farewell, My Lovely (1975) bagged Mitchum’s perfect Marlowe too late for a glowing return to the Forties. Jordan is an Irish magic realist at his best, a gauzy poet around bloody themes.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "whynow"

Marlowe review | Liam Neeson can't elevate this lacklustre neo-noir (whynow)

Marlowe might have a starry cast, but the excitement ends there. Read our review of Neil Jordan's neo-noir thriller.

A limp attempt to make a convincing noir with today’s technology, Marlowe might look the part, but it certainly doesn’t pull off its own ambitions. Marlowe might have a great cast, but the story follows familiar beats. Her voice is all honey as the seductive heiress, and she is perfectly poised and embodies the time period’s ideals of such a woman. The character of Phillip Marlowe dates back to the 30s. On paper, a neo-noir set in the golden days of Hollywood, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as a hardened detective sounds pretty great. Turns out, the lover, Peterson, has suffered a brutally violent death, or at least that’s what Marlowe thinks until Peterson is sighted in Mexico.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "HeyUGuys"

Liam Neeson & Neil Jordan on the former's 100th movie Marlowe (HeyUGuys)

Stefan Pape interviews Liam Neeson & Neil Jordan on Marlowe, their working relationship & Neeson's 100th movie.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Mail Plus"

Marlowe (Mail Plus)

Humphrey Bogart, Elliott Gould, Robert Mitchum... the list of actors who've brought Raymond Chandler's down-at-heel detective Philip Marlowe to the screen ...

It’s a classic chunk of old-school LA Noir with Neeson bringing just the right amount of world-weary charm to the role of Marlowe. And newcomer to the role Liam Neeson certainly doesn’t drop the baton. the list of actors who’ve brought Raymond Chandler’s down-at-heel detective Philip Marlowe to the screen is pretty impressive.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Reviews Hub"

Marlowe - Sky Cinema - The Reviews Hub (The Reviews Hub)

Writers: William Monahan and Neil Jordan Director: Neil Jordan Neil Jordan really knows his film noir, well enough to steer clear of the moody black and ...

Neeson enjoys the rough and tumble of the fight scenes but seems a little unsure what to do with himself the rest of the time. Written by William Monahan and Jordan from Johan Banville’s tribute novel, Marlowe has a really strong connection to the novels by Raymond Chandler and the vast canon of films made in the 1940s and 1950s under the badge of this incredibly specific and vastly imitated genre. Hired to find Clare Cavendish’s missing lover, Private Detective Philip Marlowe is soon embroiled in a complicated story involved a major motion picture studio, a set of unpleasant gangsters and a drug smuggling ring.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Independent.ie"

Marlowe to Lady Bird: the 10 best films to watch this week (Independent.ie)

The Rewrite Saturday, TG4, 9.30pm Charming comedy starring Hugh Grant as an unemployed Hollywood screenwriter who takes a job at a small university where he ...

Thriller, with Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana. And when she leaks the document, all hell breaks loose. With Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts. ★★★ But everything changes when he falls for a mature student completing an English degree. The Rewrite Saturday, TG4, 9.30pm Charming comedy starring Hugh Grant as an unemployed Hollywood screenwriter who takes a job at a small university where he hopes his workload will be light.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Upcoming"

Marlowe | Movie review (The Upcoming)

Philip Marlowe, the noir detective creation of Raymond Chandler, once again gets a revival, this time thanks to director Neil Jordan, with Liam Neeson ...

Neeson doesn’t seem to be the most convincing casting for Philip Marlowe: he fits the physical character description – a tall, powerful man with dark hair – but after that the similarities end. Viewers find ourselves stuck in the tangled web that Marlowe has to navigate, and this is not helped by the “waste no time” approach to the opening act, which leaves us running behind the plot, desperately trying to piece together the introductory pieces. Set in 1939 Los Angeles and inspired by the events in the book, The Black-Eyed Blonde, the narrative has detective Marlowe becoming embroiled in another investigation when he is hired by wealthy socialite Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) to find her missing lover, a mysterious man caught up in some shady dealings.

Explore the last week