The Long Goodbye (1973)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

One of my all time favorites.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Marlowe is a private eye and one heck of a nice guy. At 3 AM he furnishes a party of half-naked women with boxes of brownie mix, goes to lengths to find his choosy cat's favorite brand of cat food, and even drives his buddy to Tijuana.There's that saying, the one about nice guys finishing last. Well, Marlowe gets himself in a little pickle because of the car trip down to Mexico with his old pal Larry Potts, aka Terry Lennox. Terry was wrapped up in something nasty, and when it's reported that Terry's wife was murdered and Terry committed suicide, Marlowe has a hunch that the papers just ain't singin' the truth.Instead of pursuing that thought, Marlowe starts booking other clients. Still, it doesn't take long for Terry's goings-on prior to the deaths to catch up to the private eye. Marlowe's in a few jams, and has to crack the case from Adam's apple to ankle or risk his own neck.This one has some shocking and disturbing violence. The kind of stuff that is haunting because it captures bad men doing things lovingly. Like other Altman flicks, music figures heavily into the structure and connects people and places across the action.I mean, what can I say? This is another ridiculously superb movie by a guy who does it all.

Like a lot of Altman's films, I liked this much better on a second viewing. It's a fascinating mix of both heartfelt homage, and style twisting parody and re-imagining of film noir, with a great performance by Sterling Hayden, a very good one by Mark Rydell, and a solid one by Elliott Gould.A lot of it is quite funny and entertaining, but there's a sad, almost tragic side under all the hip irony. The ending is powerful, if a bit rushed. I'd put this among Altman's best films, but as I said, it took a second look to get there. The newer blu-rays (US and UK) look way better than the older, out of print DVDs, although given the visual style Altman was working in, a certain softness and lack of contrast is built in to the look of the film. It's quite intentional, and not a flaw in the transfer.

"The Long Goodbye" is vintage Altman. It ranks not only as one of his best works, but one of the best films of the 1970's. Ignore the negative comments, this is supposed to be an updating of Chandlers character Philip Marlowe to a more contemporary setting which was the whole point and Altman does it very cleverly in the most unexpected ways. Elliot Gould truly shines in his interesting interpretation of Marlowe. Seemingly lacking the confidence and self assurance of Humphrey Bogart. The problem, unfortunately, is that Altman doesn't understand what motivates Marlowe. He doesn't understand Marlowe's sense of friendship or honor. He does understand cruelty, which is why Marty is such a great invention. He also understands betrayal, which is why Eileen Wade is still a superb femme fatale. To some degree, he understands Roger Wade's whiny depression. But he doesn't get Marlowe at all, so he turns Chandler's meditation on lost friendship into a simplistic revenge story.You could say that Altman's treatment of Marlowe is "ironic," but that just confirms that he is out of his depth. There is nothing ironic about Chandler, and there shouldn't be. Marlowe's defining qualities are his ability to see through lies and his profound moral disgust for betrayal and dishonesty. He is not a vigilante in a bat suit. Marlowe illustrates the idea that, even if you are powerless to change the course of events, you can still maintain an unbreakable judgment of them. The whole point of Marlowe is that sometimes what you do has real consequences and determines who you are, and you have no way to ironically dance away from your actions. However clever, a parody isn't the equal of an original mystery novel. This movie is too serious to be a comedy, and too funny for a murder mystery. I suspect this confusion made it a commercial failure. The movie runs on too long. I did enjoy the cinematography (shots of Malibu and Mexico particularly) and being reminded of the goofiness of the early 70's, from the bad clothes to the bad haircuts,for both men and women. But all in all, not much to do with the original Marlowe. An Altman melange that does not quite amount to anything.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Starring Elliott Gould The Long Goodbye is about Detective Philip Marlowe who tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife. And by that you except something good right but no this is a movie that feels and looks like it was made in the 70's and the only interesting thing in it was Arnold Schwarzenegger's cameo and even tho he didn't speak a word he looked menacing because he's the freaking Terminator and he has a mustache in this one another cameo from a famous actor is the late David Carradine known from the movies Kill Bill Volume 1 and Kill Bill Volume 2. In the end The Long Goodbye tries to be many things but the leading actor and a very fun cameo by The Terminator is what might keep the audience asleep. (Rating: 7/10) (By Percent: 70%)