Marlowe

A modern noir hinted with flavors of classical cinema. The visuals are predominantly stunning and a necessary focal point in comparison to the long-winded plot which struggled to provide a narrative worth following. The cast is compiled of incredible past talent that struggle to develop chemistry with one another. Liam Neeson finds himself in another experience-based role and one that feels completely disconnected from the others in tone, personality, and energy. In a film that has the ingredients to fluctuate a viewer's emotions in a variety of ways, the story produced a mundane structure that made it difficult to attach myself to. If you enjoy the makeup of early 1900s films then this may appeal to you more than it did to me.

Everyone has their interpretation of Philip Marlowe. As for the books that Raymond Chandler gave us, Marlowe is most often more interesting than the characters he encounters, and more interesting than the plot. He is a loner by nature, he's articulate and funny. He plays chess puzzles and reads. He is also tough. His character is what makes you want to come back for more. The movie is fair, but it would be much better if Marlowe were actually in it. This is the eleventh interpretation of this character and it would be such a novelty if at least one would give us the character as he was created by Raymond Chandler.

The iconic titular character of "Marlowe" epitomises noir, but in resurrecting him veteran director / co-writer (with William Monahan) Neil Jordan waters the noir style down to nothing, leaving only a dull, even-paced mystery that fails to engage. Liam Neeson's the aforementioned '30s LA gum-shoe here, hired by wealthy 'femme fatale' Diane Kruger (daughter of 'femme fatale' Jessica Lange (good)) to find presumed dead lover François Arnaud who's wrapped in some kinda drug-running plot with the likes of Danny Huston & Alan Cumming, under the noses of cops like Joe Green & Colm Meaney. It's bland, plodding fare, and is just not noir. Poor.

I lot of people have compared this to the original Marlowe character and series and it is not the case. Maybe that's why people have trashed this movie as it's being judged on an existing franchise. To begin, Liam is not Marlowe but more a lower level PI. He hasn't been at it that long. If you want to compare, I would say this was more Ezekiel Rawlins in The Devil in a Blue Dress. Easy has street connects, Marlowe has cop connections. Overall, the entire supporting cast was steady and complemented the story line well. No Oscar performances but OK for the film. I'm a bit biased as I do enjoy the LA police, Hollywood and the rich-and-powerful subculture of the '40's and 50's and the banter that comes with it. The storyline itself was a bit thin but passable. In short, if you can judge this movie on its own merits and forget the "Marlowe" connect, this is a pretty good movie night out.

Liam Neeson is a strongly capable actor whose committed performances are nearly always wasted on incomprehensible messes of films, and this latest one is no exception.

In fact, Marlowe wastes its entire talented cast AND a skilled production design crew on a woefully by-the-numbers crime story that is frustratingly clumsy in how it delivers information to the audience.

Most of the story consists of exposition-heavy, dialogue-driven scenes that are slapped together with editing that leaves it unclear how and why characters get from one place to the next. Much of the information we receive from the dialogue ends up being meaningless to the story anyway, and it just winds up being a confusing mess that left me feeling nothing.

Not a single moment is really dedicated to letting us know who the characters are, or even what their needs and goals are. It's over 100 minutes of meandering from one scene to the next without ever knowing why we're here or where we're trying to go.

Confusing, bloated, corny, emotionally bereft, and pointless. Just like most other Neeson flicks of the past decade.