No No No No No...

On it's own merits, this film was ok. It had some nice little filmic moments in it and... well, I can't manage any more praise than that. As an adaptation of the classic crime novel 'The Long Goodbye' it is atrocious. And not just atrocious, but insulting and disrespectful to the book as well. So where did the filmmakers go so so wrong? Well, basically..

They actively go against everything the book stands for. The tone is the absolute polar opposite. They keep some plot elements, but discard and entirely change others with no apparent concern or care. One in particular completely destroys and undermines the whole point of the story. Instead of a touching story of friendship and loss, we have a bunch of goofy random events with no driving force or emotion behind them, between characters that we neither care about or root for. Every single character is hideously miscast. Marlowe, rather than a world weary hard-boiled noir detective, is an incompetent, wisecracking goofball. He has no morals, no honour, and is a total narcisist. He has a schtick and a way that he just loves to parade, and he doesn't give two sh**s about anyone or anything. The driving force of the book is about Marlowe honouring a friend and seeking out justice. Because the film brushes this aside with no regard, it therefore lacks the heart of the story. Why even call it The Long Goodbye..?

These are just the parallels with the adaptation, but there are other elements that are just downright bizarre. Why they felt the need to have him living next door to a bunch of naked hippy chicks is beyond me. The acting is also very poor at times, and the story unbelievable.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen two other Altman films and consider them both masterpeices (Short Cuts & The Player). But his style here is a poor mis-match with the source material. Also I genuinely believe that Elliout Gould has the makings of a fine Marlowe, but he needs the right script and style.

If you haven't read the book maybe you can ignore some of these points, but Chandler fans out there? - Avoid!