Marlowe

Diane Kruger and Liam Neeson in Marlowe

Neil Jordan's Marlowe, based on and quite faithful to John Banville's novel The Black-Eyed Blonde, is a mystery story centered around Raymond Chandler's greatest creation, the private detective Philip Marlowe. The film is a handsome period piece with Spanish exteriors ably filling in for Los Angeles and Tijuana. The film's hair and costume designs are spot on and David Homes' soundtrack is an asset. There are also some interesting performances on the periphery of the film by Colm Meaney, Alan Cumming, and Darrell D'Silva.

However, much of Marlowe leaves one with a hollow feeling. Part of this can be traced to the source novel which feels both tossed off and ersatz, a facsimile of Chandler. Liam Neeson is better than any previous Marlowes when fisticuffs are involved, but is too stolid a presence to conjure the insolence at the core of the character. This would be not be lethal to the film if there was a fiery femme fatale to draw sparks off Neeson's flint. Unfortunately, Diane Kruger is not that actress. Kruger is fine in light roles or as a German, but here seems neither American nor devious enough to fit the part. Among the leads, only Jessica Lange is ideally cast as Kruger's film star mother. She would have made an ideal femme fatale if Marlowe had been made in an earlier era.