Film Review: MARLOWE (2022): Liam Neeson Stars in a Detective Movie That Falters Despite Good Acting Throughout

Marlowe Review

Marlowe (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Neil Jordan, written by William Monahan and Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Danny Huston, Alan Cumming, Stella Stocker, Francois Arnaud, Darrell D’Silva, Ian Heart, Kim DeLonghi, Tony Corvillo, Mitchell Mullen, Patrick Muldoon, Daniela Melchior, Roberto Peralta and Michael Garvey.

At a key point in director Neil Jordan’s latest film, Marlowe, Dorothy Quincannon (Jessica Lange) tells Detective Marlowe (Liam Neeson), “Let’s cut to the chase.” Audiences will certainly agree with Dorothy in that particular regard because this movie meanders through a plot that is muddled and unsatisfying, leaving audiences wanting much more from the picture. That being said, Neeson and Lange are quite good in terms of their performances here. However, coming from a director of Jordan’s caliber, a lot more was expected from the movie’s story line than the resolution that is given to the audience. Marlowe may be of curiosity to fans of old-fashioned detective movies but the film is still rather flat despite its good performances.

Set in the late 1930’s in Bay City, Detective Philip Marlowe (Neeson) needs a bit of excitement in his mundane life. When he encounters the mysterious, yet alluring Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), he gets all that and more as she claims that she is in search of a man (who is soon to be presumed dead) named Nico Peterson (Francois Arnaud). Clare says she’s seen Nico around after news of his death surfaces and Clare hires Philip to crack the case for her.

Jessica Lange’s character Dorothy,  a movie star, is the mother of Clare who also tries to enlist and hire Marlowe herself. Lange is an Oscar winner and could have done this role in her sleep. It’s a signature film character who doesn’t have anything remarkable about her other than her offbeat personality which Lange captures to a tee. If Lange wasn’t playing her, there’d be absolutely no interest in Dorothy. She’s your run-of-the-mill eccentric older woman. In Lange’s capable hands, though, the character is occasionally interesting.

Clare is another story. Clare asks to sleep with Philip but Philip states that he can’t because he is twice her age. Clare is married, yes, but Marlowe probably would have taken Clare up on her offer. Only in the movies would we get this kind of response to what could have been a scene that managed to help maintain viewer interest. Instead, the movie plods on slowly almost like a sloth taking a nap between movements at times.

Alan Cumming makes an appearance in a supporting role here and steals the film which he is more than welcome to do. Cumming plays Lou Hendricks who shares some interesting dialogue with Philip, including the discussion of “back doors,” the likes of which Lou uses hilariously as a double entendre. But, humorous comic relief moments like those are few are far between.

Eventually, guns are blazing as Philip (along with another character in the film) gets out of a tight squeeze and goes around shooting the bad guys. Firstly, the possibility of Philip getting out of his unfortunate dilemma seems far-fetched in and of itself but the fact that he is able to pick up a gun and go killing the villains makes even less sense leaving the audience to infer that the baddies are pretty darn incompetent.

Kruger is actually somewhat appealing in her role. If more believable interaction was written between her and Neeson’s characters in the picture, it could have been so much better. Their lines are cliched and, perhaps, that’s the point but, still, audiences have come to expect much more from Neil Jordan who was at his prime in the 1980’s and 1990’s and almost always turned in successful movies. Think The Company of Wolves or The Crying Game.

Also onboard the movie is Danny Huston who plays a character named Floyd Hanson. This character tries to throw Neeson’s character off the trail initially and although it is a stock character, Huston’s presence in the picture does add some definite curiosity factor to Marlowe. But, the cast isn’t the real problem. It’s that the movie adds nothing new to the detective genre that hasn’t been done before. Some really twisty plot developments would have helped and although there are one or two surprises along the way, they don’t sufficiently carry Marlowe as a full-length feature film.

However, Liam Neeson’s career won’t be harmed for making Marlowe. It’s actually a breath of fresh air to see the action star doing something different from the routine revenge movies which he is known most for. While Marlowe isn’t necessarily a good film, it could be worth it for some people to see the actors involved playing these roles when the movie comes to a streaming service. There, at home, where one can bypass some of the film’s dull filler scenes, might be where the film will feel most comfortable.

Rating: 5.5/10

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