Review: Marlowe

Image courtesy of Open Road Films.

Some reviews have categorized Neil Jordan's "Marlowe" as old school, while others have complained that this visually stylish throwback doesn't bring much new to the detective story, relying instead on old tropes and cliched story beats. This is all true - and yet, the film is an example of one that takes familiar material and does a good job of presenting it.

If you've seen a dozen other neo noir dramas set in the past - this one takes place in 1939 in Los Angeles - then, yes, you're probably going to guess where "Marlowe" is going and not find too many surprises in its occasionally labyrinthine plotting (the film seems to often be taking its cues from "Chinatown," from a creepy father figure-daughter relationship to the appearance of Danny Huston, who portrays a creepy exclusive club owner and whose director father played a large role in Roman Polanski's 1974 film).

It's also curious that Liam Neeson, who is 70 years old, was chosen for the title role, as Raymond Chandler's private investigator, Philip Marlowe, has previously been portrayed by men who were - at the time - in their 40s or, at latest, 50s. That list includes, of course, Humphrey Bogart, Elliot Gould, Dick Powell, and James Garner.

But regardless of all this, "Marlowe" mostly works. Naturally, it all starts with a married femme fatale, Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), coming to him with a job - in this case, it's locating a lothario lover who has gone missing and been reported dead, although Clare claims to have seen him alive and well in Mexico following the reports of his death.

The plot flies off in too many directions to describe, but suffice it to say that Marlowe's investigating leads him to the aforementioned club run by a creepy Huston as well as Clare's mother, a former Hollywood star named Dorothy Quincannon (Jessica Lange, having fun with the role), and a shady underworld figure portrayed by Alan Cumming and his driver (Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje).

Director Neil Jordan has never made an outright noir, but he has long dabbled in filmmaking that skirts around the edges of the genre - the criminal figures in "Mona Lisa," the noirish period romance "The End of the Affair," and the classic thriller "The Crying Game." While "Marlowe" doesn't represent Jordan at the top of his game, it's a fun detective movie that has great cinematography and some snappy dialogue that Neeson and others toss off with relish. 

It is beholden to other films of its type from the past five decades - "Chinatown," "L.A. Confidential" and any other number of modern noir thrillers - and doesn't feel particularly original. But any time a film incorporates a figure as iconic as Philip Marlowe, you're probably going to get what you expect story wise. After all, the character has been around for more than 80 years, although this film isn't based on an actual Chandler novel. But not every film has to be wholly original and, in this case, the picture is an example of familiar territory for the most part being handled expertly.