There are iconic private investigators who are always allowed to fill the screens in new films and with new stars. In England no one comes close to Sherlock Holmes, in the USA Philip Marlowe is a real icon. Liam Neeson breathed life into this detective Marlowe new life and you can now experience it on Amazon Prime Video *.
On Amazon: Marlowe brings back the iconic detective with Liam Neeson
In the late 1930s, the brooding, unlucky Philip Marlowe (Liam Neeson) pursues his profession as a detective in Los Angeles. He is hired by the rich heiress Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) to track down her missing ex-lover. Is the man who worked as a prop man in the film really dead? This question leads the private snoop into a web of betrayal and lies that also includes the city’s elite.
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Diane Kruger in Marlowe
The private detective Philip Marlowe, initially created as a literary novel by Raymond Chandler in 1939, has been portrayed by many stars over his 85-year career. Seven actors donned the name and mantle of the crime anti-hero before Liam Neeson’s appearance in 2022. The best known are probably the film appearances of Humphrey Bogart (Dead Sleep Tight, 1946), Robert Montgomery (Lady in the Lake, 1947) and Robert Mitchum (Go to Hell, Darling, 1975).
Is Marlowe worth it on Amazon? The thriller divided critics
Taking an icon out of the drawer again is no easy task. As a film experience, director Neil Jordan’s Marlowe (Interview with a Vampire) found equal admirers and critics:
Critic Glenn Kenny describes that the film “revisionist, but smart, perceptive and perceptive” goes to work. The Chicago Sun Times praises Liam Neesons “reliably powerful, world-weary, I’m-too-old-for-this-s– performance“. Collider, in turn, highlights the entire talented cast that “The screen is on fire and we die Trip to the Golden Age of Hollywood makes you feel”.
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Less enthusiastic voices like Slant Magazine, however, call Marlowe one “Film like that full of noir clichésthat at first you can almost misunderstand it as a parody”. The Observer stars Liam Neeson as “energyless” and his detective as “the most boring residents of this sleazy Hollywood after dark”. The Hollywood Reporter draws its conclusion as follows:
Despite all of the authentic genre elements that Marlowe exhibits, the film never quite comes to life on its own. He simply lacks the verve and esprit that elevates him above emotion a great pop song performed by a mediocre cover band to be.
As of today, you can decide whether you want to join the praising or critical voices January 5, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video find out for yourself.
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