MovieChat Forums > The Long Goodbye (1973) Discussion > No -- Just Didn't Work

No -- Just Didn't Work

posted 18 years ago by a-wheeler
8 replies | jump to latest

Now before someone jumps all over me, hear me out. If you liked this movie, great! I didn't -- here's why:

Maybe I would've liked this flick more if it wasn't under the guise of a Philip Marlowe story. Anyone who is familiar with the character knows that Eliot Gould was not a good fit. His mumbling approach is the mirror image of the talkative, wise cracking Marlowe from the books and a good number of the films. And yes, I am aware that maybe he was supposed to be asleep for 20 years (though how he kept a cat alive for that long is a puzzle).

Now many will say "this was an updated reinvention of the character". Hey, that's great, I would say, but keep some of the character intact. I recognized little of Marlowe and saw a generic PI in his place. I'm not a purist, but don't give me chicken eggs and call it cavier.

The direction was done with little knowledge of the character and his fictional life. Altman and Gould seemed to have a cursory idea of what the guy was supposed to do and how he should act.

The story. Sigh. The story. It was a classice Chandler set up, sure. The girl, the old guy with or without money. Marlowe gets picked up by the cops, beaten up, etc. But that's it. Nothing else remained. Where was the wit? What about the secondary characters? Did we really care about Terry Lennox?

One more complaint: Marty Augustine. Especially the "take off your clothes" scene. And what was up with that whole Coke bottle business? I mean, I get why he did it, but it was so corny -- a groaner of a moment.

Anyone else feel the same?

[–] maineblackbear 18 years ago

nope-- i think marlowe is updated perfectly- my favorite marlowe is dick powell in murder my sweet- i can easily see guld's marlowe saying "i get a lot of complaints about my manners but they keep getting worse", etc.

as far as the wit? gosh, i thought the whole movie was amusing-- "we just met mr. madison yesterday for the first time"-- "the guy following me really likes walter brennan"--

anyway, i thought altman and gould did a spectacular job, kept the character as smart as dick powell's-- (remember powell? "I'm not smart"-- neither is gould's-- he has no real idea what happened until the end, either)

i thought the characterization by Gould was phenomonal, though if you have not seen murder my sweet or simply prefer bogie's renditions, i could see wondering what the heck altman/gould were doing.

Heck in 'the big sleep' we end the movie having no idea how involved lauren bacall was with sean regan in the first place-- or even who did the killing-- even chandler said he didn't know who did it.... and the screenplay was done by the same person Leigh Brackett, who wrote the screen play for 'the long goodbye'.

so, sorry my friend-- no takers here. :-) tonyp

[–] a-wheeler 18 years ago

Like I said previously, maybe I would like it more if it wasn't Philip Marlowe. I have nothing against Altman or Gould -- both are reasonably talented.

It's just that they billed it all wrong -- Altman kept saying how it was a pastiche of old Hollywood, but I didn't see that. The only thing that I noticed was the gaurd at the Malibu estates doing impressions.

And Gould just wasn't Marlowe. A generic LA gumshow, perhaps. Marlowe is sharp. He might not always be in the know or on top of things, but he has a certain quality about him the EG just didn't capture. His delivery was too lazy -- the total opposite of this particular detective.

I didn't have anything against the 'update'. And in that sense, Gould did fit the bill.

I agree with you, absolutely, that Powell was the best PM. I haven't seen Mitchum in the role, nor have I seen Powers Booth, so I can't say if they're better, but I doubt it (though I love Mitchum!). Montgomery is by far my least favorite Marlowe, followed by EG.

[–] kaguth27 18 years ago

I like the interpretation of Marlowe. If you have expectations about this character you will undoubtedly be disappointed, but if you just accept that they are going a different direction with the character you may like it. I think EG's Marlowe was pretty sharp actually. He has a lot of funny wise cracks in the movie. I would even say he's funnier than any previous incarnation. My criticism is that some of the scenes go on too long, especially when nothing new is being revealed. The pacing seems a bit off, but that's just me.

[–] McGonigle 18 years ago

nope-- i think marlowe is updated perfectly- my favorite marlowe is dick powell in murder my sweet- i can easily see guld's marlowe saying "i get a lot of complaints about my manners but they keep getting worse", etc.

Exactly. I think Gould's portrayal fits the spirit of Marlowe 100%. Even though, on the one hand, he's supposed to be a relic of the past, he's also very contemporary in a lot of ways.

BTW, The Long Goodbye is my favorite Chandler novel and one of my favorite novels ever. The first time I saw this movie I absolutely hated it, but once I stopped expecting it to be the same as the book, I realized what a great movie it is in its own right. After all, as with any literary adaptation, if you just do the exact same as what's in the book, there's no reason to watch the movie instead of just reading the book.

Hey, I'm trying to eat my lunch!

[–] Shambaby 17 years ago

I agree with you completely. I just saw this movie at an old theater in Chicago. I thorughly disliked. Gould was all wrong, the plot was often illogical and I hate Altman's overlapping dialogue. I found it boring, pointless and disengaging. The constant cigarette was just plain dumb.

[–] djsnafu23 17 years ago

I think Marlow's reaction and cold blooded murder of his friend really didnt fit his laid-back scruffiness. Very disappointed, otherwise the film was superb. A more mature ending would give this a 10/10

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[–] rjameshhall666 17 years ago

I thought Gould was fantastic in this. TLG is one of my favorite novels, and I had no objection to the 70's update (although I agree, the ending shouldn't have been altered). My beef with the film is the stilted improvised dialogue and acting: worst culprits: Marty Augustine and Roger Wade.

So Gould is super, but the film pretty much stinks.
That damn song is a piece of *beep* too.

[–] franzkabuki 16 years ago

Sorry to differ with the above poster, but for me Hayden as Roger Wade gave the best performance of the film. You could really feel how broken up this dude was.
And the movie worked very well the way it was. A rather big departure from the book, but as long as you´re willing to meet it on its own terms, it´s a definite success.