41
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNobody’s ever going to match Bogart’s iconic work opposite Lauren Bacall in Howard Hawks’ 1946 classic, but Neeson delivers a reliably powerful, world-weary, “I’m too old for this s---!” performance in Neil Jordan’s exquisitely photographed and sometimes convoluted but thoroughly enjoyable period piece.
- 67The Film StageEthan VestbyThe Film StageEthan VestbyThis picture, somewhat of a beguiling genre experiment that seemingly nobody asked for, initially seems like a bad throwback, but in its game of telephone through adaptation ends up, actually, something of a moderately funny joke.
- 55TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeThere are few surprises or misdirects or red herrings involved with this all-too-solvable mystery, let alone subtext or commentary. With Marlowe, a very talented cast of actors and a legendary filmmaker have assembled to make a Philip Marlowe movie you can fold laundry to.
- 45The Daily BeastNick SchagerThe Daily BeastNick SchagerWhile the star adequately acquits himself, Neil Jordan’s throwback noir is a cover song that knows all the notes but can’t capture its predecessor’s spirit.
- Short on both charm and Chandlerian complexity, this version coasts on Liam Neeson’s engagingly haggard lead, and some spicy character playing from the likes of Danny Huston, Alan Cumming and Jessica Lange.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFor all the authentic genre tropes on display, Marlowe never comes to life on its own, lacking the verve or wit to make it feel anything other than a great pop song played by a mediocre cover band.
- 40The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottThe cast is large and the costume and set designers have been kept busy with period details, but “Marlowe” neither dutifully copies nor cleverly updates detective-movie tropes. The dialogue is spiced with profanities and anachronisms, and the plot moves ponderously through a thicket of complications.
- 25Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenNeil Jordan’s Marlowe is an homage so riddled with noir clichés that one may initially take it for a genre parody, except that the jokes never arrive.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleWith the exception of Jessica Lange, who tears into her fairly brief role as a wealthy and wicked former movie star, everyone in Marlowe is directed as if to seem groggy with depression. It’s as if they’re all bored with the story before they tell it, and then they tell it while trying not to fall asleep.