The Long Goodbye

1973 comedic mystery

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Philip Marlow's stuck in the 1970's with his cat. After a desperate search for the right cat food, he helps a friend in need get to Mexico. This sets off a chain of events that forces surly Marlow into situations he'd probably rather not be in. Or maybe he doesn't really care all that much.

This is a quirky and misanthropic movie that is more Beat the Devil than The Big Sleep. Seems to be directed by Altman in a bad mood, a guy disgusted by people, 1970's America, Raymond Chandler, movies, and really anything else. It's just got that vibe. Having said that, it's still a really entertaining character study, and Gould does a great job creating that sort-of overblown stock character, almost like a caricature more than a believable actual living and breathing person. It's also a very funny movie. Not funny enough to laugh at though. Not ha-ha funny. I didn't LMAO. Odd, drifting movie with some smallish but really memorable scenes (the bottle, the suicide) and minor characters hovering around the lunatic fringe. It's definitely the type of movie that grows with subsequent watchings which, according to my father, is one thing that makes a movie really great. Along with Gould, I really liked the performance of Sterling Hayden as the writer. A mute Arnold Swarzeneggar is also in this, but I don't think it predates Hercules in New York as his first film role.