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.

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.