The Long Goodbye

"It's OK with me."
What a great movie.

A script with some incredibly clever dialogue, brought to life by a wonderful cast of memorable characters. The seedy belly of the detective underworld is contrasted by the flair of 70s glam, giving the film an uneasy and almost surreal tone. This is only aided further by the smooth, jazzy soundtrack that just eases itself along throughout the film, with plenty of great diegetic moments, adding to the surrealism. And it's all encapsulated within an inventive cinematic lens with loads of unique and interesting shots adorning each and every frame. Truly a masterpiece of its time, and easily recommendable to anybody who enjoys good cinema.

"Excuse me, I don't see any Courry Brand cat food here."

Young Mr. Schwarzenegger had a great mustache!

Anyway The Long Goodbye works because of the amazing performance by Elliott Gould. He simply sucks you in at the beginning of the film, saying hi to his lesbian neighbors, trying to buy his cat some specific cat food. Cat food isn't available and now he tries to trick his cat. Epic stuff.

We follow Elliott Gould who plays Philip Marlowe a private eye as he tries to discover the truth about his murdered friend and his wife. The mystery slowly unfold to a killer conclusion.

The way Gould talks to himself and his great wit is what makes this film great. Also these sudden stuff like very scene with his neighbors, he asks them to look out for his cat and they just simply ignore him or when somehow we have a 5 second shot of one dog humping another one. Or the epic sign that says "El Porto del Gato".

The more I think about the Long Goodbye, the more I love it. It is simply a must watch.

For starters, I think this movie, while not from the classic Hollywood era, is the pure definition of noir cinema. The setting, both climatologically and geographically speaking, is attractive. The protagonist, Philip Marlowe, is very well defined: he has a personality that engages the public, perfect eloquence, an unbeatable look. All of this plus Elliott Gould's facial expressions makes it easy to sympathize with the protagonist. On the other hand, the plot seems simple at first, however, then there begin to be many loose ends. This made me lose easily nevertheless everything is resolved in the end, making the end not so obvious.

[spoiler]Curious fact: In the poster, Philip is seen using a revolver, but in the film he never has one. On the cover of the DVD, he carries a gun, but in the background they have put the beach, something that is not correct either. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm almost sure not![/spoiler]

Philip Marlowe, the famous literary private detective, gets a modernization in this centerpiece of the ’70s noir revival. Despite a fresh coat of paint - snazzier cars and looser lingo and more liberal attitudes - at heart, his world hasn’t changed all that much in the thirty intervening years. Seedy criminals still exist, cutting corners and burying critics just to get a leg up, while smart, weary men like Marlowe stand in opposition. In _The Long Goodbye_, he finds himself tangled in a broad web of deception. Murder, extortion, intimidation and corruption are the currency of the Malibu underworld, spent on a wide swath of societal players, but Marlowe’s ethics aren’t for sale. Just like the old days.

Apart from a job title and a credo, Elliott Gould’s rendition of the grizzled flatfoot is a far cry from the one depicted by Humphrey Bogart in _The Big Sleep_. Gould’s take is firmly rooted in the early ‘70s; a scuzzy single male who rots in a trashy, well-situated one bedroom apartment between cases. His office is the local pub, where the tender doubles as his personal secretary, and when he finds time to return calls, it’s done over the din of a bar piano. This muddy existence is contrasted by the luxury and glamor of his clientele, particularly his latest patrons: a refined housewife and her wealthy, drunken, cantankerous husband. Though it looks like he hasn’t had a shower in about three-hundred cigarettes, Marlowe slots easily into the high culture and discretely works his way around the rough edges of his latest cases. Naturally, they’re all connected, and while his extra sense seems to recognize that right away, the complicated details often leave him simmering in hot water.

_The Long Goodbye_ is the definition of a potboiler. While the hero pokes around, cracks side cases, shows us his world (the opening scene, where he fails to pull one over on a hungry house cat, is a top-notch introduction), we soak up the atmosphere and wait. Meanwhile, only slightly off-screen, the dominoes are lain and the weapons are loaded. Until the other shoe drops, we don’t know how deep we’ve been getting. Gould is entrancing as the wily, charismatic sleuth whose intuition is good, but not always good enough, and the twisty plot is a slam dunk for the genre. Maybe a little rushed at the end, though, especially considering the deliberate, effective pace that set it all up. Special recognition: the brief cameo from a young, mustachioed Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s there just long enough to get his shirt off and bounce his titties a few times.

Decent flick (word count req)

ive gotta tell yall i really liked the protagonist. the way he talks was funny. this movie was okay but the main character was the most enjoyable. to see this guy do his thing , his way. give it a try. funniest private eye ever.

Well, the quick review is that it hasn't aged well.

Elliot Gould is fine in the lead role. He's got a charm to him as a slightly off-kilter guy with above-average smarts.

The rest of the cast are pretty standard with crap 70s acting. There's a short appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Mr Olympia 1972 shape and the guy is enormous next to normal men!

The plot is the usual nonsense that becomes inter-related and then has a twist. The twist here is predictable about 20 minutes out... And the other twist is completely out of character and makes no sense.


6/10

>"BALLS, baby, balls!
Well, why don't you remember the good we had together, the beautiful times, huh? Oh, I got an idea. Why don't you call your friend the Marlboro Man in here and ask him a couple of questions? You ask him, ask him, ask him, Marlboro, when was the last time you made love in the lee of the lighthouse on Point Venus in Tahiti, huh? Or out on the lagoon, yeah, that shining lagoon with the goddamn surf booming on the Barrier Reef, hey? Yeah, or up on Whitney that night of the blizzard in the double mummy bag, woo! Ask him that."

My first Altman and I must say, I was expecting more. This somehow felt both too subtle and too over the top. I couldn't bring myself to care about the central mystery. Felt so much longer than it needed to be.

It's not all bad. I enjoyed whatever the hell Elliot Gould was doing here. Some great dialogue, some really funny moments, and a jaw-dropping ending.

Apparently this is supposed to subvert the Marlowe character and the private detective genre as a whole. Marlowe's behaviors evoke the 1950s, in contrast to the 1970s world that surrounds him. Unfortunately, all this was completely lost on me.

Obsessed with Marlowe just lighting matches on the nearest available surface, wherever he goes.

Mindless astray stoner noir, with a script that mirrors that same clueless baffling stoner view. Marlborough Man, aimlessly trying to track down his friend, a cash trail, a dead wife, and a cast of characters that pass in and out. Would I call it an amazing movie? No, but movies like Inherent Vice, The Big Lebowski, Under a Silver Lake, etc owe quite a bit of themselves to it.