A scene from ‘Marlow’ | photo credit: @openroadfilms/youtube
Oh dear, this movie promises a lot and delivers very little. It’s 1939 in Los Angeles and the sun is tracking the golden lines on the windows. The world-weary detective, Philip Marlowe no less, is Raymond Chandler’s gift for the genre of hard-boiled crime fiction.
A mysterious icy blonde, Claire (Diane Kruger) arrives at Marlowe’s (Liam Neeson) office with a beautiful puzzle. Her boyfriend and props master, Nico Peterson, (François Arnaud) is missing in a studio and she wants Marlo to find him. Marlo asks tough questions, including what her husband, Cavendish (Patrick Muldoon) has to say about it all. Marlo gets to work and quickly finds out from his friend and former colleague from the DA’s office, Bernie (Colm Meaney), that Nico was killed in a hit-and-run, which put Nico’s skull at an exclusive club. Crushed out easily is where the rich and famous come into play. Claire insists that she saw Nico alive and well after his death.
Marlowe (English)
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Colm Meaney, Daniela Melchior
Story: A woman walks into a detective’s office and asks him to find her missing boyfriend. This is just the beginning…
Running Time: 109 minutes
The club’s owner, Floyd Hanson, (Danny Huston) is none too pleased with Marlowe snooping around. Marlow meets Claire’s mother, Dorothy Quincannon, (Jessica Lang), a famous actress who has secrets of her own to hide, but isn’t afraid to reveal how long the water boils for the perfect cup of tea. should go. The powerful studio boss, Ambassador (Michelle Mullen) has his fingers in a lot of the dirty work in addition to quoting Faust (a throwback to his acting days at Harvard). He is incidentally called the Ambassador as he is soon to leave for England as one. Lou Hendricks (Alan Cumming), runs a nightclub and Nico also gets him items from Mexico that are not so readily available in America. Hendrix’s driver, Cedric (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), loves movies and is fiercely loyal to his boss. Nico’s half-sister, Lynn (Daniella Melchior), who identified the body, meets a sticky end before Marlo has a chance to question her properly.
As Marlowe uncovers each dirty secret, he appears to be drawn deeper into the cesspool of vice that is 1930s Hollywood. While the film is beautifully shot – that striated golden light, the sudden rain that causes the water to form glittering diamonds on the pan, and the climax in the prop house where Egyptian busts spread mouths around hanging crocodiles, Is a feast for the eyes.
The ensemble cast, though elegantly dressed in fedoras, three-piece suits, berets and perfectly cut suits, are strangely disconnected from the events on screen. Everyone is seen acting very clearly. one where Marlowe is being dragged through a nightclub into a basement of horrors, another where he chases a suspect through a labyrinth in a crypt, and one where Marlowe meets an actress, Amanda, (Senna Kerslake) ) questions, including excellent visuals. For all intents and purposes looking like a Terminatrix wearing prosthetic bloody eye sockets.
based on black eyed blonde by Benjamin Black marloweJoe Neeson’s 100 th Looks at reuniting with award-winning director, Neil Jordan, on the film and its aftermath Michael Collins And breakfast on pluto, could have been so much better. Without a smart central mystery, this neo noir is all surface and no soul. “Forget it Jake, this is Hollywood.”
Marlowe is currently playing in theaters