The Long Goodbye

I think this is my sentimental favorite of all Robert Altman movies. It's shaggy, it's a hair unfocused, and that's what makes it so great; it's definitely a spiritual sister to The Big Lebowski. Almost every scene is a kick, Elliot Gould turns in his best performance, and it's brimming with the kind of little details that demand repeat viewings (Marlowe's neighbors, David Carradine and Ah-nuld's bit-parts, to name just a couple). Nashville and the Player may be more biting, McCabe and Mrs. Miller more perfect, but I could watch this fucker on a loop.

Being a huge Marlowe fanatic, I've always wanted to check this movie out but never could find it in local video stores and never got around to ordering it off Amazon. Plus, whenever it comes into discussion, there are usually pretty mixed reactions to it.

ETA: I was in Half-Price Books a few months ago and saw some Marlowe books on tape, as read by Elliot Gould. Apparently, following the making of THE LONG GOODBYE, he remained attached to the character. I was so very tempted to buy one of them just for kicks...

The Long Goodbye -- "It's Okay with Me"

Well, as my user name and avatar suggests, I'm pretty fond of it. The film deviates from the novel in many ways, yet in its own revisionist way, it really stays true to the spirit of Chandler's penultimate Marlowe adventure. I like Gould's take on Marlowe, although I can see why the film may not be to everyone's taste.

In truth, on first viewing, you might not be sure what to think of it, but it's a film that improves upon repeat viewings -- at least for me.

The Long Goodbye CD with Elliott Gould is pretty cool, especially since he's reading the actual text (though abridged) -- it's almost like having an alternate cut of Altman's movie. I was actually thinking of ordering some of the others -- new editions recently came out (repackaged versions anyway).

This has been in my queue for a while now. I may have to move it up.

MGM HD's been running this so I rewatched it the other day. I love how restless the camera is. I also love that it was written and scored by the same people who served those roles on The Empire Strikes Back, for God's sake. It must have been nice when Hollywood didn't pigeonhole you.

I fucking love this movie. The opening ten minutes is one of my favourite introductions to a character I have ever seen. I had a nagging feeling I had seen it before until my friend pointed out it had been ripped off by a cat food company and used as an ad sometime in the 80's.
I'd also say it's my sentimental Altman favourite. I watched it one morning at 3am, then watched it again the next day just to keep floating around in it's universe.
Marlowe's constant droning grumble is infectious.

I love, love, love this movie. I love everything about it. I was watching Wings of Desire the other day and there's a reference to Philip Marlowe coming home to feed the cat, and I couldn't help but think of the beginning of the film. Great ending too.

I love how you get at three different versions of the song 'The Long Goodbye' at the beginning as Marlowe wanders LA searching for catfood, it set's the mood perfectly.

As much as I love the movie, Gould's take, Altman's direction, etc., the old school response Farewell, My Lovely kind of kicks its ass. Mitchum is Marlowe.

I decided today to get into Robert Altman after realising I’d only seen McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Popeye by him. So I looked to see which films I had access to and this was the oldest film I could find by him.

 

Probably a bad start as I absolutely adored this movie, like loved it beyond all reasonable measure. I’m familiar with Marlowe as a character but only as played by Bogart and I never really got a feel for the character largely due to Bogart’s own personality sort of absorbing the role. Whilst Elliot Gould isn’t a direct match for the print Marlowe he feels a lot more authentic within the confines of this movie. He feels both a man completely out of time, he’s far more amiable and moral than any of the other characters, and also completely of his time, and how snarky and amiably disruptive he is. He’s essentially got the morality of a man from the 40s with the mischievous spirit of a counter-culture hero and it works perfectly.

 

I kind of love how brow-beaten Gould plays Marlowe, like life is just sort of collapsing in in him and it gives a nice through line to the various set-pieces and encounters which have a multitude of tones from the comic to the suddenly violent. Having Marlowe as essentially a straight man to the more offbeat and oddball supporting cast is just inspired because it anchors the film and sort of reinforces the notion of Marlowe as a permanent outsider.

 

I’m not a fan of John Williams but I love what he does with the score in this, just using the singular refrain and re-appropriating it throughout the film from radio-songs, to shopping muzak, to hippie chanting, to a mariachi band. It gives the film a sense of balance and stability and it allows the different off-kilter set-pieces to retain a sense of thematic cohesion. The film is full of so many great moments, but I kind of love the opening ten minutes as Marlowe sort of talks to his cat and goes out to get food. It’s a perfect microcosm of the film, presenting our amiable hero, the shifting style of the film, and introducing one of the major players and plot points.

 

It’s kind of amazing seeing Altman just completely control the tone of the film, balancing the general kooky field of the majority of Marlowe’s encounters with punctuated violence which reminds you that this really isn’t Marlowe’s world anymore and it all leads up to the final confrontation which is just shocking, largely because it’s the first time we really see Marlowe being proactive rather than reacting to a situation.

 

This is definitely going to become a personal favourite and it’s making me want to go back and start watching some of the more traditional film noir.