Icon Portrays Icon

Friday night’s movie fix, courtesy of Netflix by mail, was something I was unable to resist despite tepid reviews, Marlowe (2023), starring Liam Neeson as the icon. Given the star, I wondered if the script would adhere more to his action films or to Raymond Chandler’s creation. I’m happy it stuck to the latter, although the plot is much simpler than that of the novels. Set in California in the late ‘30’s, the detective is feeling his age, although he is still capable of rough stuff. He seems to be doing a bit better financially than in the past. He is hired by an heiress, daughter of a former movie star, to find her missing lover. Those roles are filled capably by Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange. Colm Meaney and Alan Cumming are the only other members of the cast I recognized, although several of the supporting players have impressive resumes. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is outstanding as an intimidating, literate chauffeur. Of course, there are fisticuffs and gunplay. Although I enjoyed the ride, the movie pales to what I consider the gold standard of Marlowe, Farewell, My Lovely (1975), directed by Dick Richards, starring Robert Mitchum in the role he seemed born to play. Marlowe was directed and co-written by Neil Jordan, who won a screenplay Oscar for The Crying Game (1993), which also earned him a Best Director nomination. He collaborated with William Monahan and John Banville. The former won an Oscar for his adaptation of The Departed (2007). The dialogue is at times too cute but solid overall. 6000+ users at IMDb have rated Marlowe, forging to a consensus of 5.3 on a scale of ten. It fared miserably at the box office, earn1ng only a bit more than six million worldwide, which may not even have covered the salaries of the cast. I was unable to find its production costs. I don’t recall any profanity. The violence is brutal but not over the top. Its appeal is probably restricted to fans of the genre and Marlowe. Running time is 1:49. I’m sure it received the full endorsement of tobacco companies. Here’s Neeson in character, photo from Google Images:

Do as I say, not as I do headline from nypost.com: “Zuckerberg spent $43M on security — while giving millions to ‘defund the police’ groups.”

I doubt any headline today will surpass this on the humor scale, true or not. From NYP: “Ice-cold business: Ben & Jerry’s HQ is on ‘stolen’ Native American land: Vermont chief.”

More PC madness, from NYP: “This tampon CEO is erasing her customers by calling women ‘menstruators’.” Sounds like a good title for a new batch of superheroes.

The floating book shop lucked into a good parking spot, but it didn’t spark a buying spree. My thanks to the gentleman who bought two books in Russian, and to the woman who purchased a translation of Sandra Brown; and to the sweet elderly woman who took home a duffel bag and a cold drink carrier, and then returned with a donation of two books in Russian.

Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling in Farewell, My Lovely (1975), photo from Google Images:

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