The Long Goodbye - 1973 - 3 Stars

Actors: Elliot Gould, Nina Van Pallandt
Director: Robert Altman

When I see a mediocre noir film like The Long Goodbye, it makes me appreciate the great noirs all the more. Obviously this isn't a true noir - it's been Altman-ized and updated for 1970s Los Angeles - but being based off a Raymond Chandler novel and featuring Gould as Philip Marlowe makes it a de facto noir.

Noir plots are supposed to have lots of twists and turns, but this film really doesn't. The Altman-ized characters are a touch too eccentric, and Gould's habit of muttering to himself makes him more nebbish-y than noir heroes, whose appeal is always being one step ahead of the audience in terms of figuring out what the hell is actually going on. We get the sense that Marlowe is just as lost as we are. As a comment on noir films and their relevance to actual life, perhaps this is interesting, but it doesn't make for a great movie.