-----Original Message-----
>From: Channing <
filmtroll@sbcglobal.net>
>Sent: Jan 26, 2007 9:37 AM
>To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Movie Marlowe
>>
>I don't care how good "The Long Goodbye" is supposed
to be, Elliott Gould is horribly
>miscast as Marlowe. He's a light-weight in a
heavy-weight role. Gould is a whiny, goofy
>wimp, not a hard-boiled tough guy that could take a
punch, or a sap to the head.
>
>Channing
>
All this talk about THE LONG GOODBYE forced me to whip out
the movie and watch it again. While Gould, at times, appears
to be a bit goofy, it is generally an act he is using to
manipulate others around him - the cops, Marty Augustine and
his thugs, the quack doctor and his staff. At no point does
he appear whiny or a wimp. (And if I'm missing something
here, please give me an example.) Not only can he take a
punch, but he is hit by a car and springs back to life and
shakes it off when he wakes up in the hospital next to
someone who has presumably been in some kind of SERIOUS
accident since they are covered head to toe in bandages.
(Maybe this is a comment by Altman about how the PI in this
kind of fiction usually takes a beating that would lay a
normal human out for six months - if they survived at all -
but is somehow miraculously healed within days if not
hours.)
(BTW - I find it ironic that Gould would be considered too
whiny as Marlowe. In Chandler's books Marlowe spends quite a
lot of time whining. Some of those scenes seem to be less
about character and story and more about Chandler's inability
to fit in with modern society. And that's not necessarily a
criticism.)
I have a feeling that the very idea of Elliot Gould was and
is a sacrilege to the fanatic Marlowe fan. He's not in the
standard mold. But then, neither was Dick Powell. But he,
too, was great in the role. I think for this kind of fan this
movie was doomed before they saw it. Nothing anyone says will
change that. (But I must say it anyway. Because I live in a
noir world and am doomed. Just like the rest of you.)
There are many scenes where Gould is the perfect wisecracking
tough guy. His banter with his associates and friends is dead
on and believable. His sarcastic volleys with the crooks and
the cops have a modern slant, but are clearly rooted in the
classic film noirs of the past. And in the final scene he
goes where Marlowe never had the balls to go - but it is the
perfect modern updating of the knight errant character. So
much so that that scene would be emulated for years to come
in other books and movies. Yes, it is shocking. And it is the
most controversial of moments in this film for the Chandler
fanatic. "Marlowe would never do that!" they exclaim. But I
think it is a logical modern extension of the hero. Lennox
has murdered his wife and escaped justice. Marlowe takes the
only course left to him that will change that. Afterwards,
people come out and dance in the streets because - in
Altman's word's (and I'm sure this is not an exact quote)
"Things were made right in the world - if only for a few
moments."
I think Gould may actually reveal himself to be the TOUGHEST
MARLOWE EVER in this final scene with Terry Lennox. He's a
true badass here. In attitude, language, and deed.
I'm diving into the foxhole and wrapping myself in asbestos
now!
TL
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