Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Marlowe Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson May 25, 2023

If you saw any of the trailers or studio adverts for Neil Jordan's Marlowe (2022), you may have wondered what the picture is essentially about or its literary source. Is it about private eye Philip Marlowe's life? Is it based on any of Raymond Chandler's novels? It really isn't about either, although Marlowe (Liam Neeson) appears in practically every scene. The film is based on the widely acclaimed novel Black-Eyed Blonde, which was commissioned and authorized by the Raymond Chandler estate. Irish novelist and screenwriter John Banville (Albert Nobbs) wrote the book under his pen name Benjamin Black. Black-Eyed Blonde was first published in 2014 by Henry Holt; the publisher reissued it in paperback earlier this year in the US and UK with the new title of Marlowe: A Novel with Banville's real name appearing on the cover. Banville intended this work as a bookend to Chandler's novel The Long Goodbye. Banville worked with Jordan on the British series Riviera (2017–20) but did not adapt Black-Eyed Blonde into a screenplay for his fellow Irishman and friend. That task fell to William Monahan (The Departed) and Jordan.

As the picture opens in Bay City, Los Angeles, in 1939, Detective Marlowe is visited by Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), an oil heiress who wants to hire the investigator to search for her former lover Nico Peterson, a Hollywood stage hand presumed murdered by the police. Clare, however, believes Nico P is still alive and wants Marlowe to track and follow all leads to locate him. But Clare isn't the only one who wants to find him. Dorothy Quincannon (Jessica Lange), Clare's mother, also would like to hire Marlowe. There's a would-be sexual tension between Cavendish and Marlowe, as well as Quincannon and Marlowe, that the film never fully invests in.

Marlowe has a sluggish pace and drawn-out narrative that lacks any spark, energy, or rhythm. Although Jessica Lange provides some spunk and feistiness, Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger look bored as they deliver their lines and plod through their scenes. Part of the problem is that Monahan and Jordan are more interested in setting and atmosphere than they are in giving any of their characters dynamism. Danny Huston does impress as slippery country club owner Floyd Hanson. Alan Cumming does what he can to overcome the script's limitations as gangster and gunrunner Lou Hendricks. Monahan and Jordan do a disservice to character actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who's placed in the subservient role as Lou’s chauffeur and bodyguard, Cedric. If Marlowe is supposed to be a neo-noir (albeit with throwback elements) that updates the vintage tropes of the genre with a contemporary sensibility, then why do they infuse Cedric with the same stereotype as the obsequious Black serving his White boss(es)?

Marlowe is superficially polished but structural errors crop up in the editing. For example, Jordan and his editor Mick Mahon rupture the film's continuity editing while Marlowe is retaliating against two thugs after he's attacked. They jump-cut in the middle of the fight to a relaxed Marlowe at a country road. The audience probably would have liked to see the remainder of the scuffle. When there are finally a few bristling action scenes in the last scenes, they feel anticlimactic because there's hardly any tension in the preceding two acts to build up to a climax.

Marlowe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's spring release of Marlowe is packaged as a "triple play": Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code. The keep case comes with a shiny slipcover. The enclosed insert has a Movies Anywhere digital code, which may not work after 6/30/2024. Marlowe appears in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of about 2.40:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. I saw Marlowe in the theater with 4K projection. Universal's 2K transfer largely replicates my original experience. Cinematographer Xavi Giménez shot the movie with an Arri Alexa Mini LF camera with Signature Prime Lenses. It seems that the final DI was finished at 4K. The downsampling doesn't really hinder detail and sharpness. Universal has done a stellar job of transferring it to Blu-ray. The studio has encoded the feature at a mean video bitrate of 35333 kbps.

Marlowe was shot in Barcelona (standing in for LA of the late '30s and early '40s) and on sound stages in Dublin. IBC365's Adrian Pennington quoted Neil Jordan at Marlowe's premier in San Sebastian where the co-writer/director spoke about the film's use of light and color: "We're making something sort of hyper-real — so let's use the intensity of the light, the colours and strips of neon that Xavi used very beautifully in the night scenes. It created a heightened version of a noir film. Here using colour almost felt like using a weapon." Pennington interviewed Giménez about Marlowe's aesthetics. He described Giménez as saying the movie's visual tone has a "bourbon-coloured almost-dusk." You can see shades of this in Screenshot #s 5 and 6. Additionally, Giménez applied a yellow filter. He explained to Pennington that he helped achieved this by first using filament bulbs. Marlowe also boasts red and blue filters for the nightclub interiors (see frame grab #s 4, 10, 11, and 19). Giménez told Pennington that he built a LED volume in a car scene where neon street lights reflect off the windows of Cedric's car (#8).

Universal delivers twenty scene selections for the 109-minute feature. You can select the chapters on the main menu or via remote.

Marlowe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (3502 kbps, 24-bit). Delivery of dialogue is fine. Neeson deadpans and sometime murmurs his lines throughout but words are intelligible. The uncompressed track also does a very solid job of bringing out street noises and the general ambiance of LA night life. Composer David Holmes wrote a low-key and eclectic score that features a variety of instruments. The "Opening Title" is the standout; it has a Spanish flavor that befits its shooting location. The soundtrack album notes list Woody Jackson on dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, and mandolin. The score also brings in piano, horns, trombone, double bass, electric bass, drums, and background vocals. Outside of the first cue, the score doesn't call attention to itself. Jade Vincent sings "Impossible" and Jon Batiste performs "The Light Shines Brightest in the Dark."

Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.

Marlowe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Extras are absolutely nil.

Marlowe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

With all the talent both behind and in front of the camera, the production of Marlowe should have been much, much better than it turned out. It would seem a nice change of scene (and pace) for Liam Neeson from his action pictures, but the plot is so dragged out that pacing becomes the picture's chief detriment. I felt that it could have given more screen time to Seána Kerslake, who plays actress Amanda Toxteth, and to Daniela Melchior, who plays Lynn Peterson, the sister of the missing person. The production values are at least adequate, but the narrative and the characters haven't been served well by a drab script. Conversely, technical efforts on the part of Universal are pretty top notch. Marlowe is available on various streaming platforms in 4K (with HDR) but the uptick in resolution isn't going to make color and detail pop out that much compared to this very fine transfer. If you want to own every film that Neil Jordan has directed or Neeson has starred in, then Marlowe might be a consideration, although it's on the lower rung of cinematic merit for director and star. I would choose to watch any of the Raymond Chandler adaptations first before revisiting Marlowe.