The Long Goodbye (1973)
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Synopsis: Director Robert Altman, famous for his ability to turn any genre inside out, takes aim at film noir with this evocative adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel. Altman's Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is a relatively unsuccessful private eye living and working in 1970s Los Angeles.... Director Robert Altman, famous for his ability to turn any genre inside out, takes aim at film noir with this evocative adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel. Altman's Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is a relatively unsuccessful private eye living and working in 1970s Los Angeles. Stepping into the shoes of the notorious detective, Gould delivers a captivating performance that is the definition of '70s hip: he spends the entire film mumbling to himself, smoking cigarettes, and making wisecracks to everyone he encounters. This time around, Marlowe decides to investigate the supposed suicide of his friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton). At the same time, he's hired by Lennox's beautiful neighbor, Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt), to track down her husband Roger (Sterling Hayden), a successful author and belligerent alcoholic. Slowly, the mystery begins to reveal itself, as Marlowe discovers that Eileen's relationship with his dead friend was more than merely casual. All the while, Marlowe must contend with police, a psychopathic gangster (Mark Rydell), and a host of other characters and situations that make up the hazy existential malaise that is the world of THE LONG GOODBYE. Altman's particular brand of filmmaking hits stride with this brilliant revisionist noir thriller photographed by the great Vilmos Zsigmond (MCCABE & MRS. MILLER, HEAVEN'S GATE). John Williams' score consists of several ironic variations on the title composition, which provides the film with an added comic punch. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Elliott Gould, Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt, Henry Gibson, Mark Rydell
Screenwriter: Leigh Brackett
Story: Raymond Chandler
Producer: Jerry Bick
Composer: John Williams
DVD Info
Release:
Sep 17, 2002
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
- Dolby Digital Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
- Featurettes - 1. RIP VAN MARLOWE
- 2. VILMOS ZSIGMOND FLASHES THE LONG GOODBYE
- Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
- 2. Radio Spots
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Everywhere you look, there's something delightfully weird going on ... Altman and company fashion a state of slouching, freeform Zen that no one else has ever really duplicated.
When he was very near the top of his early peak, [Robert] Altman did the darnedest thing and made a private-eye movie -- or maybe a parody of a private-eye movie; it's hard to say. And he may never have topped it.
Simultaneously an act of revisionism as well as a parody of then-revitalizing neo-noir.
The reluctant and satirical mystery is one of the great Los Angeles movies and makes a great compliment to, say, The Big Lebowski.
It ends up with mixed results -- Marlowe is drawn as a goofy daydreamer (Altman calls him Rip Van Marlowe) and his story only gets interesting when Sterling Hayden, channeling Hemingway, goes bananas.
Altman's generalized misanthropy fits uncomfortably with the overall noir universe.
It may not be exactly like the novel but then this Philip Marlowe is nothing like anything ever seen before.
...may not please Chandler purists, but it is an endlessly fascinating movie in any case.... If it all seems a bit surrealistic, that's the way it's meant to be.
Subversive and engaging, The Long Goodbye ranks among Altman's best.
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