Tagline: Nothing says goodbye like a bullet.
When I hear the name Elliott Gould, the word tough-guy doesn't immediately spring to mind. No, I tend to think of his roles in films like MASH, Ocean's Eleven and Capricorn One. So imagine my surprise when I learned that he had played the quintessential detective, Philip Marlowe, in the 1973 film entitled The Long Goodbye. Visions of Bogey started dancing in my head, and I just had to give it a look.
But before we get into the gory details, let's get the obligatory plot synopsis out of the way. The movie takes place in 1970's California, as Philip Marlowe (Gould) scrapes together a living by being the best private dick that money can buy. As the opening credits finish rolling, he runs into his old friend, Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton), and ends up giving him a lift down into Mexico. But as the next day dawns, Philip finds himself harassed by the cops (seems Terry's wife turned up dead) and a local mobster, Marty Augustine (Mark Rydell), who Terry stole a considerable amount of money from. And since Terry's no longer around, everyone seems happy to take out their frustrations on Marlowe. Things get even more complicated when a body presumed to be Terry's turns up in Mexico, and Marlowe takes on a missing persons case involving an alcoholic novelist (Sterling Hayden), his beautiful young wife (Nina Van Pallandt), and a greedy psychiatrist (Henry Gibson).
First off, let me give due credit to director Robert Altman. The idea of taking Philip Marlowe, a thoroughly black-and-white detective, and surrounding him with beach bunnies and sun-worshipping nudists in California is certainly a bold one. But, then again, that's always been Altman's style--working just enough outside of mainstream Hollywood to keep things interesting.
So does it work? Well, the answer's more complicated than you might think. While Goodbye has moments of brilliance, it's often just a middle-of-the-road detective movie. For every well-crafted scene, there seem to be a couple of mediocre ones, and the plot seems to wander a bit from the mid-point on. No doubt, the opening scene with Marlowe and his cat is a thing of brilliance and the standout moment in the film. It establishes what Marlowe is all about and quickly lets the audience know that Goodbye will not be the usual crime movie.
From his bedroom wall, scarred by having matches lazily struck on it, to his mumbling running commentary and unbelievable chain-smoking (he may possibly smoke more cigarettes than any character in cinematic history), I instantly knew that this was going to be a character I would care about. Too bad that it was mostly downhill from there, as the rest of the film fails to live up to the expectations established by the strong opener.
But don't blame it on Elliott Gould. He's a blast from start to finish, playing Marlowe with an unexpected bend-don't-break philosophy. I was expecting a hard-boiled detective with a solid right cross and an itchy trigger-finger. Instead, we get a much more realistic character. He feels pain. He gets scared. Under all his smartass bravado, Gould's Marlowe is just like the rest of us.
Another plus is that he plays Marlowe's thoughts and feelings close to the vest. Noticeably gone are the trite Hollywood moments where the protagonist sits down and spells out his plan for the audience. We don't know what Marlowe is going to do because he doesn't really seem to know either.
And much of the credit for that should go to screenwriter Leigh Brackett, who adapted the Raymond Chandler novel and enabled the script to crackle with crisp dialogue and eccentric characters. Brackett is a veteran of the Chandler mythos, having also co-wrote the script for the 1946 production of The Big Sleep.
The soundtrack also goes a long way towards selling viewers on the fact that Goodbye takes place in its own self-contained universe. And in that universe, only one song exists... The Long Goodbye. Whether characters are listening to the radio, practicing the piano, or simply whistling, that one song keeps coming back to haunt us (albeit with varied arrangements). It's a clever device which I don't ever remember seeing before, so a well-deserved pat on the back to whoever thought it up.
There are also many other reasons to like Goodbye: a solid performance from Sterling Hayden as a Hemingway-like author, the slight-of-stature Henry Gibson playing against type with memorable results, Mark Rydell's Marty Augustine demonstrating to Marlowe what he does to those he doesn't like (and to those he does), an uncredited cameo from a then-unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many more. With all the preceding compliments, it might be easy to mistake Goodbye for a top-flight movie. But just as Marlowe meanders about, so, too, does the bulk of the film.
The subplot with the author and his wife never really seems to entirely come together and often feels forced, and the scenes with Henry Gibson, while well-acted, never really make a whole lot of sense. Maybe the original novel fleshed things out in more detail, but I felt as though something critical was left out of the film version. Some viewers, especially those expecting lots of brawls and gunplay, may be disappointed by the lack of action in the film. Marlowe talks to people, and that's really all he does. Like I said before, this is a different type of detective movie--one where the protagonist reacts instead of acts.
And then there's the ending. I won't go into detail and ruin it for you, but you'll either come away thinking: (a.) It was a brilliant ending which added a new dimension to Marlowe, or (b.) Marlowe's actions were totally out of character and ended the film on a sour note. To be honest, I continue to flip-flop between the two. But for what it's worth, Altman liked the script's ending (which was different from the novel) so much that he had it written into his contract that it could not be changed during the production or editing phases.
A masterpiece of filmmaking or a good idea which was never fully realized? I lean towards the latter, but you need to watch it and decide for yourself. Whatever your conclusions, chances are that you'll find something positive to say about Goodbye. And if you're unfamiliar with the work of Elliott Gould, you might just find that you've discovered a new favorite actor.
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