Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7653 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-02
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Raymond Chandler's cynically idealistic hero of The Long Goodbye, Philip Marlowe, has been played by everyone from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner--but no one gives him the kind of weirdly affect-less spin that Elliott Gould does in this terrific Robert Altman reimagining of Chandler's penultimate novel. Altman recasts Marlowe as an early 70s Los Angeles habitué, who gets involved in a couple of cases at once. The most interesting involves a suicidal writer (Sterling Hayden in a larger-than-life performance) whom Marlowe is supposed to keep away from malevolent New-Ageish guru Henry Gibson. A variety of wonderfully odd characters pop up, played by everyone from model Nina Van Pallandt to director Mark Rydell to ex-baseballer Jim Bouton. And yes, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger (in only his second movie) popping up as (what else?) a muscleman. Listen for the title song: it shows up in the strangest places. --Marshall Fine

Synopsis
Director Robert Altman, famous for his ability to turn any genre inside out, takes aim at film noir with this evocative adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel. Altman's Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is a relatively unsuccessful private eye living and working in 1970s Los Angeles. Stepping into the shoes of the infamous detective, Gould delivers a captivating performance that is the definition of 1970s hip. He spends the entire film mumbling to himself, smoking cigarettes, and making wisecracks to everyone he encounters. John Williams's composition "The Long Goodbye," gives an added ironic punch to the film's tone. Marlowe decides to investigate a friend's suicide, unconvinced by the autopsy. He is hired by the friend's neighbour Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt) to track down her husband Roger (Sterling Hayden), a successful author and belligerent alcoholic. Slowly, the mystery begins to reveal itself, as Marlowe discovers that Eileen's relationship with Terry was more than merely casual. All the while, Marlowe must contend with police, a psychopath, and a host of other characters and situations that make up the hazy existential malaise that is the world of the LONG GOODBYE.

Customer Reviews

Picture quality is worse than VHS
One of the best films ever made - yet the picture quality of this telecine resembles one of those bootlegs where somebody has snuck a camcorder into the cinema and filmed the screen.

The image is meant to be dark, but they messed up the transfer and you honestly cannot see anything.

I am not exaggerating to make a point.

Ultimate Hero
Here's an all-American hero with a twist; Elliot Gould is Philip Marlowe as you've never seen before and I suppose it took the dry wit of Robert Altman's directorial skills to pull this one off. Gould's Marlowe lives alone with his very particular cat, is rather unsuccesful as a private eye or anything else. Yet, he's a thoroughly moral character if never ostentatious, naieve in that he doesn't want to believe his best friend is taking him for a ride. The scenes with the Jewish mobster are priceless; look out for an early appearance by Arnie Schwarzenegger as one of the thugs who seems a bit to keen to want to undress Gould. My all time favourite film by far; Gould as the ironic ultimate anti-hero, no flash gumshoe glamour but lots of understated humour and a laid-back approach that is second to none. In a word: wonderful. Bless Robert Altman, Elliot Gould and seventies California..Oh, see if you can count all the different musical versions of 'The Long Goodbye' that appear on the slick soundtrack. Enjoy!

Robert Altman's idiosyncratic take on Philip Marlowe
I'm both a fan of Raymond Chandler and Robert Altman, so unlike many who revere the former, don't have an issue with the treatment accorded Marlowe by Altman. I don't think a character or novel is sacred ground, it doesn't mean that films like The Sheltering Sky or The Magus are any good, but the source novel still exists. A film adaptation of a novel is just that- an adaptation- or rather, an interpretation. It's hardly definitive, just a take on a novel.

Altman messes with Marlowe, but in an interesting way- Marlowe now comes across as a 30s/40s anachronism set in a present day 1970s. He smokes constantly, sounding lost in period talk and out of place with his dopesmoking, yoga-practicing hippy neighbours. The opening sequence is very amusing- he runs out of catfood and has to go to the local supermarket, he offers to but cookie dough mix for his hippy neighbours (suggesting hash cakes or munchies) & attempts to buy his cat's favourite brand. It turns out it's discontinued- Marlowe is dumbfounded, seemingly left behind by the modern world - and ends up trying to trick his cat to little success (this is actually being used in a current Whiskas-advert!). Watching Altman's take on The Long Goodbye, it's no surprise that critics pointed to this film when reviewing the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski (1998)- where Marlowe seems to be 40s trapped in the 70s, Lebowski (The Dude) is very 60s trapped in the 90s. Plus he seems rather inept as a detective...

Elliot Gould is wonderful as Marlowe, one of his great performances equal to the one he gave Altman in their previous collaboration M*A*S*H (1970). It's a very stoned film and feels a bit surreal, especially when Arnie pops up in one scene & when it turns violent towards the end. Like Altman's later Thieves Like Us, it may strike many as pointless, but if you like Altman, it should be enjoyable. It's no M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player or Short Cuts...but not much is. A different take on a classic character & story, which I'd prefer to a faithful TV-movie rendering. Nice to see it turn up at a good price on DVD; the only other thing I could say is, if you haven't, read the original novel by Chandler: it's available in a wonderful Penguin omnibus with The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. An interesting take on the crime movie and in some ways, it feels like a companion to Don Siegel's Charley Varrick (also 1973).