Marlowe (Neil Jordan, 2022)

Neil Jordan’s Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson as the titular hero, is a loving tribute to the film noir character, first made famous by the books of Raymond Chandler. 

The movie is based on the book The Black-Eyed Blonde (2014) by John Banville, who was asked by the Chandler estate to write five new Marlowe-novels.

Jordan and writer William Monahan (The Departed) obviously cut some of the material, but kept enough to suggest the look and feel of a real Marlowe-movie.

Marlowe (the movie) picks up in late 1930’s Los Angeles after the events of The Long Goodbye. Marlowe (the man) is down on his luck, but that may change when he is hired by wealthy and attractive blonde Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) to find an ex-lover who has mysteriously disappeared. 

As anyone will know who has ever seen a classic Marlowe-movie like The Big Sleep (1946) by Howard Hawks, this means the start of a labyrinthine search through the seedy underbelly of California. 

It must be said however, that this time round the story is surprisingly easy to follow, especially when towards the end the movie starts to circle back to the beginning.

Along the way we meet a fair number of shady characters as well as some damsels in various states of distress.

It’s true that this movie doesn’t try to reinvent the film noir genre. Jordan and Neeson play this one by the book, but the cast is so fine - it includes Jessica Lange, Colm Meaney, Danny Huston and Allen Cumming - that it is still fun to watch the mystery unfold in three star fashion.

Note: After playing the festival circuit Marlowe has been released in most countries, either theatrically or online.