THE LONG GOODBYE (1973) is Robert Altman's impressive reinvention of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlow. As Altman himself also admits in his video commentary, at the time the movie was released first in LA, then in Chicago and finally in New York, his interpretation met with resistance among some film critics because Altman's chain-smoking Marlow was neither a Bogart nor a Mitchum. He is a cat lover, for one thing, and is really afraid of dogs. Not your typical hard-boiled P.I. exactly. Marlow (Elliott Gould) is trying to solve the mystery of the alleged suicide of his close friend Terry Lenox whom he himself has driven down to Mexico as a favor after Terry showed up one night at his place and claimed he had a terrible fight with his wife. When Terry's wife is found dead, Marlow's first reaction is incredulity. In a second and parallel story, Marlow is hired by Eileen Wade to find and bring back home her missing husband Roger Wade. After finding Roger at a mental clinic, Marlow realizes that the Wade couple also happen to know not only Terry but his murdered wife as well. The police apprehend Marlow and question him about the murder but then they have to release him for lack of any evidence. Marlow is also harassed by the psychotic hoodlum Marty who claims Terry has got lost with the $350,000 of his money that Terry was supposed to deliver to a party in Mexico City. Since Marlow is Terry's friend and was last seen with him, Marty is of the strong opinion that Marlow has the booty. Marlow is manhandled by Marty's body guards which include the future Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, flexing his pectorals in a non-speaking role. At the end, Marlow finds Terry down in Mexico. Terry has doctored his own death with the collusion of corrupt local officials. When he tries to rub it in, Marlow bids Terry a very long goodbye indeed by shooting his unarmed and unsuspecting friend right on the spot. My only problem with this great movie is the ending because it really is not in character with the lackadaisical Marlow created by Altman who responds to most situations with a dismissive fine with me and does not even raise a hand to defend himself when beaten up by gangsters. Altmans Marlow is a smart and wisecracking detective who relies on being underestimated by his adversaries. He is not an action character who kicks down doors and pistol whips the baddies. Throughout the movie we don't even see him handle a gun, let alone shoot it. Then, this very same character who is pushed around for two hours, all of a sudden produces a gun and puts a bullet through his long-time friend's heart for betraying him! It just simply does not compute for the passive, chain-smoking Marlow who can't even handle a barking Doberman. And what's more, in the very last scene of the movie, we actually see Marlow dancing with joy as he ambles off from our view. For two hours we watch a Colombo-like character who finishes indeed as a Bogart or Mitchum. But he then immediately reverts back to Colombo and disappears over the horizon while clicking his heels. Altman says he loved the ending so much that he had it written into his contract that the studio could not change it once the shooting started and he got what he wanted. For me, it will remain as a puzzling and discordant end note casting a question mark on all that went on before it. A respectful 7 out of 10. -------------------------------------------------- |
