MovieChat Forums > The Long Goodbye (1973) Discussion > Viewing The Long Goodbye was like...

Viewing The Long Goodbye was like...

posted 17 years ago by sneakygreenalien
20 replies | jump to latest

watching someone being burned at the stake. It was slow and painful to watch. A cheesy B class movie at best is my estimate. The main character Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) was way too happy go lucky for me. He couldn't get the character right and was unbelievable. Makes scense because when was the last time you saw Elliott Gould in a movie that was worth a damn? He's TV material and was the wrong person cast for the part. Anyway, this pretty much set the films demise and put all the nails in the coffin. Too bad because Raymond Chandler was a great writer and the Adventures of Philip Marlowe oldtime radio series was fantastic! Just goes to show that even though a book or a radio program was a success doesn't mean the film will be likewise ;(

Rate: 1/10

[–] lousylittlepoets 17 years ago

You obviously just did not get it... Altman's Marlowe wasn't supposed to be approached like the classic Marlowe. You have to read how Altman himself set to deconstructing the character. And why not Elliott Gould for that role? You gotta think outside the box, dude.

[–] SSRESNICK 17 years ago

Thank you for your superb reply to one that did not get it !

Perfect and consise...

SSR

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Bogart1980 17 years ago

OK, I missed it too. Explain it to me without being condescending or elitist. I guess I prefer my P.I.'s played straightforward.

[–] PatrickCurren 17 years ago

(SPOILER HEREIN) Then it's just a matter of taste, I guess. Altman took the Chandler view of the PI as a knight -- "Down these mean streets...", etc. -- to its logical absurd conclusion: Marlowe saw himself as the unsullied knight, the loyal friend, but everybody played him for a chump. He really *was* a loser. In the end, he realizes this and rectifies it by killing his friend, the man who more than any other had taken advantage of the altruistic "knight". It was Marlowe's way of reclaiming the self-respect he had lost.

[–] pturman-929-979676 8 years ago

Yeah, cold-blooded murder is always a good way to reclaim a little of that much needed self-respect.

[–] krasnegar 8 years ago

Print this comment out on paper, fold it until it's all corners and then stick it where the sun don't shine.

I politely didn't give you the ad hom reply you so richly deserved on your "Why didn't I Like this?" bull.

You didn't like it because you are a poser and a jerk.

[–] Wuchak (8733) 3 years ago

It wasn't "cold-blooded murder" since Lennox had gotten away with murder after taking advantage of their friendship and making Marlowe out to be a fool; Lennox meant to live it up in Mexico with Eileen, the woman he was cheating with, which is what set into motion all of the negative events of the story in the first place. As such, Gould -- a private detective -- was carrying out justice that was denied by the proper (ineffectual) "authorities."

[–] m143386 17 years ago

What do you mean, what else has he been in that is worth a damn.

Mash anyone? Capricorn One?

He was also one of the better characters in the Oceans films...

So he wasn't prolific and some of his output leaves something to be desired it's obvious that in the right film with the right character he puts in some great work.

This film is just one more example.

[–] WilbertGyllenhal 17 years ago

The LG is one of my favourite Film Noir ever. It's almost relaxing to watch it after all the "classics". There is such a depresive atmosphere in this film, i love it.

[–] Owlwise (1535) 3 years ago

I also recommend The Silent Partner.

[–] heyuactor 9 years ago

He couldn't get the character right and was unbelievable.

That was just Altman's take on it, a crazy one...

"Did you make coffee? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

this movie is not a 1/10 by any stretch of the imagination

that rating is reserved for "movies" such as Meet The Spartans

so many movies, so little time

[–] Rinn13 (167) 4 years ago

You know, some "film buffs" are so painfully pretentious and snobby, that reading their pseudo-intellectual drivel, is kinda like watching someone being burned at the stake. Just saying.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I know, right? I have heard online people badmouthing Long Goodbye for DECADES. I really love it and would probably rank it as my favorite Elliott Gould performance.

[–] Rinn13 (167) 4 years ago

I didn't necessarily LOVE the film, myself. But I liked his character, and I'm a Gould fan in general. To say that he gave a bad, or "unbelievable" performance, or that he was a "TV actor at best", is BS. What was so unbelievable about a small time, "cheapie" private eye who was very laid back and clearly didn't take life very seriously? That's what his character was.

That's like saying Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks is miscast and "unbelievable", for the same kind of character reasons (especially early on).

[–] Owlwise (1535) 4 years ago

I'd also point out that the screenplay was by Leigh Brackett, who had co-written the screenplay for The Big Sleep in the 1940s, and who knew Marlowe very well as a character. She was right on board with Altman's take on the character, which is to wonder how a decent & honorable P! from that 1940s copes with the enormous cultural changes in America since then. Particularly in the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era. Not only an immensely enjoyable film, with a wonderfully laconic performance from Gould, but a clear-eyed look at America at that moment,

[–] kwestmo (4385) 4 years ago

Yes, Gould's character is good and the story is OK , but the character is not Phillip Marlowe and the story is not The Long Goodbye. It's characters with the same names and a similar story. The story is not close enough that copyright laws would apply.

So why use them? Marlowe and Chandler weren't even popular in the 70's, not Phillip Marlowe, tho there was a resurgence in the 80's.

It's Ok to like the movie and it's OK not to like it. It's not OK to criticize people for either.

[–] MikeCable (1844) 4 years ago

I enjoyed it, as a bit of an Elliot Gould fan. No movie is going to please everyone, and movies derived from books are even more known for having this problem.

[–] Kowalski (75529) 3 years ago

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES...YOU SEEM DUMB...NOW YOURE OLD TOO...SUCKS TO BE YOU.