The Long Goodbye (1973)
Upon being initially acquainted with Phillip Marlowe during the
opening minutes of The Long
Goodbye, one finds a man seemingly rid of obligation. A man who's chief
priority is a late-night run for cat food and brownie mix for the band of
pothead bimbos next door wouldn't appear to have any building concerns. Yet, in
a matter of minutes, Marlowe is tossed amid a whirlwind of uncertainty. Meshed
with an amalgamation of vibrant characters and gentle pacing, the mounting of
the unknown helps bind The Long Goodbye to effectively provide
a beautifully intriguing picture.
As a freelancing private
investigator, Marlowe must set his instinctive suspicions aside when his buddy,
Terry Lennox, shows up at his doorstep desperately asking for a favor: one ride
across the border to Tijuana. Marlowe smells trouble, but acquiesces, prompting
interrogations from federal detectives, an ephemeral stint in the clink, and
the confirmation of the Sylvia Lennox's murder. Effortlessly inhabiting the
protagonist, Elliot Gould cogently exhibits the relentlessly suave sarcasm held
by Marlowe, even in the grittier moments of the film.
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| Phillip Marlowe (right) shares a drink with Roger Wade in The Long Goodbye. |
Following his release from
prison, Marlowe becomes caught in a net of conflict with an assignment to track
down Roger Wade (Sterling Hayden), the alcoholic husband of Eileen Wade (Nina
van Pallandt). Only adding to the subtle chaos is Marty Augustine, the gangster
boss of Terry Lennox who is aggressively demanding the $350,000 Lennox failed
to leave behind before he crossed the border.
As the tension and ambivalence surrounding the murder of Sylvia
Lennox accumulate, the audience is trapped alongside Marlowe in a cage of
yearning curiosity. After all, Marlowe makes his living by questioning
everything, so it comes as no surprise to see Marlowe set out to discover the
truth of the Lennox case. Shot mainly on locations scattered throughout Los Angeles, director Robert Altman and his team exquisitely capture some beautiful neo-noir
aesthetics. Despite the tranquility of Marlowe's disposition, Altman has no
trouble expertly conjuring anxiety-ridden moments. In one instance, Marlowe is
being questioned by federal agents in his apartment as topless hippies gyrate
hypnotically in the background. In another, Marlowe is prying at Eileen Wade
for answers as Roger Wade drunkenly stumbles to his drowning death in the
background, all the while audio of waves pounding the sand
are intermixed with jarring barks from a dog.
The Long Goodbye totals
to be an unabashed depiction of troubled relationships gone awry. The story
takes the most honest perspective, that of an innocent onlooker. As Marlowe
finds himself more entangled in the Wade/Lennox marital debris, the viewer
gains a deeper sense of empathy for the witty chain-smoker. Marlowe, a man who
remains true and honest to a friend, a customer, and a blackmailer, is only
asking for the same in return. In the end, he prefers his supply of cat food to
be his number one concern.Grade: Flat 8
Side Note: Considering Paul Thomas Anderson's next film will be a cinematic adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel, Inherent Vice, I think it noteworthy to voice the possibility that this upcoming film is, in my mind, Anderson paying homage to The Long Goodbye. Having read the novel and knowing Anderson has noted Altman to be a central influence, one can see a multitude of parallels between Doc Sportello and Phillip Marlowe, with the investigative sprees that drive the plot, and even with the neo-noir genre of the stories. I could be overemphasizing the similarity, but I don't doubt Anderson will be confirming the relationships of the two films when Inherent Vice hits the scene.
