Marlowe is a new film by director Neil Jordan. The plot consists of the main character, Detective Phillip Marlowe (Liam Neeson), wrapped up in a wealthy family’s investigation, with this story written by William Monahan. Based in Bay City, California, Marlowe is hired by a woman (Diane Kruger) whose former lover has disappeared. Throughout the movie, the audience is taken through Detective Marlowe’s search for his subject. We meet several exciting characters along the way as Marlowe tries to find answers.
This was based on the 2014 novel entitled, The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville. It also includes many other big-name stars, including Diane Kruger, who plays Clare Cavendish, and Jessica Lange, who plays Dorothy Cavendish. This film is categorized as mystery/crime and has just under a two-hour playtime. I liked that this film was not excessively long, though, at some points, it did feel like it was.
Also, I liked the historical pastime vibes that this movie had. Being based in Bay City, California, in 1939, I thought that it was refreshing to look at how parts of California used to be. With that, I thought the costumes worked well. Men wearing nice suits and women in cute, long dresses set each scene well and transport the audience to this period with a simple look at the screen. The lovely scenery, too, made this movie different from others I have watched recently.
Unfortunately, I felt that this movie was dragged on. Not only did it feel slow at the start, but throughout the film, I felt that the plot never picked up as I had expected. It simply did not grab my attention as I wish it would have. There were a lot of sitting and talking scenes, and to be honest, the screen was never that interesting to look at because, most all the time, the characters were stagnant.
Also, the lighting felt dreary and dark with muted tones, making me sleepy. Especially with the very minimal background music, it was quiet most of the time, with only the characters’ conversation, which made it hard for me to stay engaged. When the music did play, for example, in the beginning, it was nice and set a mysterious tone. This mysterious aspect did not act like the thriller I had hoped for; Instead, the characters and the audience had questions that were danced around for the entirety of the film. And, the mystery died down the more into the film we went. Overall, being considered a ‘mystery’ movie, it definitely could have added more thrill and excitement.
As for characters, many names were thrown out quickly, which was hard to keep up with; not to mention, we did not always have faces to put to these names. Also, many characters were very minute and unnecessary, and I felt the film did not need to confuse the audience more. It became hard to follow at times because of the names and the added characters at every step.
Liam Neeson, on the other hand, did have an excellent performance. It may be just me, but he seems to play the same character in every movie. For Marlowe, we saw him with a soft exterior and a rugged, hard interior which made its appearance shy. There could have been more intense scenes to add to his character. As for side characters, the audience was never given enough information to understand them. It felt too spread across all of the different storylines to pick up the background of a specific one. I feel that it could have been better executed.
For the film as a whole, I understand that the audience is taken through this detective’s journey to solving this mystery, but other than that, there was no bigger picture to be seen. So, if you are looking for a sentimental, deep movie, this is not one of those. This could be an OK, slow movie for a more aged/advanced crowd, but nothing the youths would find super enjoyable.
I give this film 2 stars out of 5.
Overall, I felt this film was uninteresting. It was nothing crazy good, nothing stood out to me, and I wouldn’t recommend watching it. Honestly, this year’s films so far have not done anything remarkable, so though I was disappointed by this film, I have to say there is not much that I expect from these films. Also, not to mention, I was falling asleep in some of the more extended, more talkative scenes in this film, which is never a great sign.
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