Thought I'd seen Long Goodbye before, but, watching it, I soon realized I hadn't - probably because I never liked Elliot Gould & could never picture him as Philip Marlowe. Not that he was any more incongruous than any other part of that film. Tho they still had him inexplicably driving a '40s convertible - yet never with the top down for some reason - the film was reset in the swinging '70s when it was made & only a few plot elements vaguely connected the film to the original Raymond Chandler novel at all. In one ludicrous scene, the villain - to impress Marlowe with how vicious he is - smashes his own girlfriend in the face with a coke bottle. The bottle shatters, badly cutting her face. A coke bottle? Shatters on a human face? Yeah, right. But that's just the kind of film this was.

I like the hard-to-solve mystery we get here. Actually, they don't even come close to giving us enough clues to solve it, hence the difficulty. But in that we feel we're up against it like the protagonist, detective Phil Marlowe, played by Elliot Gould.Times have really changed for Marlowe since 1946, when he was played by Humphrey Bogart. Then he was cool, implacable, wore a fedora a lot, and wound up with babe Lauren Bacall. That was the only strain of the plot viewers could follow. There were some dead bodies, smoking guns, and tough questions from cops along the way. In this movie it's 1973, and Marlowe still think he's cool but that opinion is not so widespread this time - he's being played for a sucker by at least half the cast, including a longtime friend, and his own cat. He unravels the mystery mostly out of a lack of having anything better to do, which he clearly stood in need of.Director Robert Altman follows his own ideas about how to communicate visually. Like when he changes scene to a hospital, he doesn't do any kind of establishing long shot, he shows a closeup of a light over a patient's bed. His montages create a kind of equivalent of our human experience, where we use our minds to focus on detail. He usually winds up with scenes that feel like we're watching something actually happen. But he does know how to use visuals for dramatic power when he wants, as the ending makes clear. Some of the performances he gets from actors are amazing, like Mark Rydell as psychotically dangerous gangster Marty Augustine. The way he works himself into a rage with his rants changes gears from funny to frightening at high speed, and I can't believe it didn't influence Joe Pesci's performance in "Goodfellas."Not everything works here, like Gould smearing fingerprint ink on his face then breaking into Al Jolson at police headquarters, but on the whole a fairly engrossing take on detective mysteries.

Raymond Chandler's Detective Philip Marlowe fell Asleep and is Awakened 20 Years Later in the now Smogged Hazed Los Angeles and seems OK with it although He is undoubtedly Dazed and Confused.That's the Premise and You are Asked to Give In to that Premise in No Uncertain Terms and Go with the Flow. Marlowe Sure Does. He Stumbles and Mumbles barely trying to regain His sense of Place and Time. He still Smokes continuously and retains a Cynical Humor about the People that still Populate the "City of Angels".A Conglomerate of Artistic Displays are on hand in Altmanesque Fashion. The peppering Overlapping Dialog, a Fluid and Attentive Constantly Moving Camera, and a remarkable Ensemble Supporting Cast. Henry Gibson, Sterling Hayden, Director Mark Rydell, Nina Van Pallandt, and Baseball Pitcher Jim Bouton all Stamp the Film with Indelible Quirky Characters.The Film is an Homage to Hollywood and Chandler. Altman takes a Bite out of Tinseltown but is Kinder to Marlowe, Chandler, and Film-Noir. The Director is at His most Playful here and most of it Works although Loud and Angry Outbursts from Purists and Traditionalists say otherwise.It's Odd, Offbeat, and Obscure, Against the Grain of the Seventies Neo-Noir Realism and was Dismissed and Booed upon its Initial Release.Others saw a Singular Filmmaking Artist at Work and the Movie has Gained Elevated Status over the Years and has become sort of a Cult Movie or Novel Curiosity. Elliott Gould as Marlowe and Altman have Weathered the Controversy, and the Film Emerges as a Seventies Highlight.

Loosely followed from Raymond Chandler's penultimate book about private-eye Phillip Marlowe (1953), "The Long Goodbye" was updated to a hip and hedonistic (i.e., topless yoga) world of 1973 California. Elliot Gould stars as an easy-going, chain-smoking, old-fashioned Marlowe, a wisecracking and disconnected observer of modern life. Others had previously played the Marlowe role, most notably Humphrey Bogart in "The Big Sleep" (1945). In the pre-credit opening sequence, to a brief tune of "Hooray for Hollywood," Marlowe is awakened at 3:00 AM by his hungry cat. As the detective has run out of pet food, he goes to the all-night supermarket. The cat's favorite brand is sold out, so Marlowe tries a substitute. Returning to his penthouse apartment, Marlowe places the cat food into an empty discarded can of its favorite brand. The cat is not fooled, however, and leaps off the counter and runs away. In the meantime, Terry Lennox (former baseball pitcher Jim Bouton), Marlowe's close friend, arrives at Marlow's and asks the detective to drive him with his two duffel bags to the border at Tijuana in Mexico to get away from his trouble with a local gangster. We will later learn that Lennox was running money across the Mexican border and it was not delivered. When Marlowe returns home he is arrested by the local police, who tell him that Terry's wife Sylvia has been murdered and that Marlowe may be an accomplice. As the gumshoe utters impudent answers to questions, he is held for three days. The beleaguered detective is finally released when the police notify him that Mexican authorities have confirmed that Lennox is dead, having shot himself. Before dying, Lennox had written a confession that he murdered Sylvia. But as Marlowe cannot possibly believe that Lennox is a murderer he decides to investigate further. Meanwhile Marlowe is hired by Lennox's neighbor Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt) to find her alcoholic, boorish, and large husband, Roger (Sterling Hayden), who has been missing for a week. With ease Marlowe locates Roger, who was held in a shady detoxification sanitarium under the direction of creepy and diminutive Dr. Verringer (Henry Gibson), who is not beyond humiliating the much bigger man (6'5"/220 pounds). Jewish gangster Marty Augustine (Mark Rydell), arriving with his gang of thugs, tells Marlowe that when Lennox went to Mexico he took a large bag containing $355,000 of his money. Augustine wants his money back and threatens Marlowe with physical harm. For emphasis, he does commit one quick and surprising act of violence to his mistress Jo Ann with a coke bottle. When Augustine leaves, the detective trails him to Roger and Eileen's beach residence. HINT: Eileen was not truthful to Marlowe when she denied knowing Terry and Sylvia Lennox, her Malibu neighbors. But exactly how are the two Wades, Lennox, and the mobster connected? The charming and manipulating Eileen now says that Roger was having an affair with Sylvia. Then, after a Malibu beach party, Roger wades into the ocean and drowns himself. The private-eye believes that Roger was feeling guilt for murdering Sylvia. But was Lennox the killer all along? Was he having an affair with Eileen, and did he crave some of that Wade fortune, which is obviously extensive? Meanwhile Marlowe has received a note and a $5,000 bill (a James Madison) from Lennox in the mail for his services. He drives to Mexico to confirm the death of Lennox. Somewhat satisfied, although the Mexican authorities said that Lennox had just one duffel bag, he returns to LA. In the presence of Augustine and his gang, Marlowe is searched and his $5,000 Madison bill is discovered. (There were three in Augustine's $355,000 bag.) While this "conference" is in progress the stash of money is delivered; the gangster is satisfied and releases Marlowe. So who had and who returned the cash?ADDITIONAL SPOILERS: When Marlowe arrives at Eileen's, he discovers that she has put her house up for sale and left. Not totally convinced of the meaning of some recent events and realizing he has been used by several people, Marlowe returns to Mexico and discovers the authorities were bribed by Lennox, who is still alive. He tracks Lennox at a hacienda, and the latter admits to killing his wife Sylvia accidentally and initially failing to deliver Augustine's $355,000 to Mexico City. That information does not bother Marlowe as much as Lennox used him and placed his life in danger. Lennox even insults him. Consequently, without batting an eyelash Marlowe pulls out his pistol and fires. Right after Eileen is seen driving her jeep to the hacienda as "Hooray for Hollywood" is played. It is obvious that Eileen and Lennox were having an affair. They clearly returned the cash after she had inherited Roger's large fortune. So there was not really much for Marlowe to solve, but there certainly was a score to settle! One may differ with director Roger Altman's ("MASH," 1970) anachronistic adaptation of Chandler's hero, but the picture does succeed. Furthermore, since when was Altman a purist? Moreover, Gould, not the misogynist of "MASH," provides one of his best performances as a not-so-tough disheveled sleuth who also drives an old car, like fictional police detective Columbo. In fact, the acting is fine throughout, even by a quirky cast of characters who inhabit LA. Near the beginning catch David Carradine as a jailed hash-smoking philosopher and towards the end spot Arnold Schwarzenegger as one of Augustine's henchmen.