Liam Neeson has long since established his bona vides as an action hero. At 70, he may miss a few steps, but manages to hold his own against formidable opponents. This time around he puts on the fedora once worn by a who’s-who list of actors – Bogart, of course, but also Robert Mitchum, James Garner, and Elliott Gould, to name a few – to play Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective, Philip Marlowe. Will his performance make anyone forget Bogart’s Marlowe in The Big Sleep, or even Jack Nicholson playing another P.I., Jake Gittes in Chinatown? Probably not, but with a strong supporting cast, eye-catching scenery, and an appealing period wardrobe, Neil Jordan’s film is an enjoyable way to spend two hours.
Chandler died in 1959 and, as often happens, the job of keeping alive his work passed to other writers. Marlowe is based on The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel, the 2014 authorized mystery from the Irish writer John Banville, writing under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. (Banville/Black’s Marlowe novels benefit from the loyal following he’s built up with his series featuring Quirke, a hard-drinking, first-name only, Dublin pathologist.)
Diane Kruger as Clare Cavendish
Marlowe, set in Bay City, California, in 1939, was actually shot in Barcelona to take advantage of the city’s vintage feel. Indoor scenes, shot in Dublin, are dark and intimate, the blinds blocking the sun and casting shadows on the actors’ faces. While detective films and series set in the present have cut back on smoking, in Marlowe everyone puffs away, hopefully on clove cigarettes.
With Marlowe, there’s always a femme fatale, a gorgeous “dame” who usually has an ulterior motive for seeking out the services of the detective. Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) wants Marlowe to find her lover, Nico Peterson (François Arnaud), who has disappeared. Peterson works on sets for a production company and makes frequent trips to Mexico to pick up statues and other items that could be used in films. While Clare wants to hire Marlowe, she’s less than forthcoming about why she wants Nico found. Marlowe’s initial inquiries turn up news that Nico was killed in a hit-and-run outside the swanky Corbata Club. Clare, however, insists that Nico is still alive, having seen him driving on a street in Mexico.
Jessica Lange as Dorothy Cavendish
Clare’s motives are also called into question by her mother, Dorothy Cavendish (Jessica Lange), a wealthy former film star. Clare’s father died by suicide, and Dorothy fears that Clare is showing signs of the family illness. Her efforts to hire Marlowe, however, fail, and he continues to ruffle the feathers of powerful and dangerous people who have their own reasons for locating Nico. Collateral damage is Nico’s half sister, who is kidnapped, tortured, and killed.
A former Los Angeles cop (the original Marlowe was an investigator with the D.A.’s office), Marlowe takes advantage of his contacts in law enforcement, particularly Detective Joe Green (Ian Hart), and they are only to glad to let him take the lead when they might be handcuffed by department rules and regulations.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Cedric
The bad guys pile on and pile up. Central to some of the action is the Corbata Club run by Floyd Hanson (Danny Huston, whose father, John Huston directed and starred in Chinatown), and gangster Lou Hendricks (Alan Cumming, who appears to be having the time of his life, even when being beaten and tortured). Marlowe teams up with Hendricks’ chauffeur, Cedric (a terrific Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) for the final showdown.
While Clare does her best to seduce Marlowe, the aging detective has his morals, saying he could be her father. They share a dance, but little else.
Marlowe finishes the job, but the ending feels less than final. But as with so many films featuring a hard-boiled detective, happy endings are hard to come by, especially in L.A. Will Neeson’s Marlowe return in a future film? There’s certainly more source material to pull from, if this film manages to find an audience.
Photo Credit: Briarcliff Entertainment
