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The Long Goodbye (1973)

★★★ — The Long Goodbye (1973)

Robert Altman made The Long Goodbye in 1973, slotting it between his breakthrough ensemble pieces McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Thieves Like Us (1974), at a point where he was pushing hard against Hollywood convention at every opportunity. The film is an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel, scripted by Leigh Brackett (who had co-written the Howard Hawks Chandler adaptation The Big Sleep back in 1946), and it deliberately transplants Marlowe from his 1940s setting into the sun-bleached moral looseness of early 1970s Los Angeles. Released through United Artists on a modest budget of around $1.7 million, it failed to recoup its costs on first release, a quiet box-office disappointment that sat uncomfortably alongside the era's bigger, slicker crime pictures.

He strikes matches on everything in sight. I didn't know what to expect going into this really. When I saw the plot I thought it was going to be a detective movie and instead it's more like one of those neo-noir murder mysteries. The story itself was pretty good and keeps you guessing and the end is great, it's just a little too long. The lead actor Elliot Gould is just not very good and a little annoying to be honest. It's slightly above average.

Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1973 | Watched: 2025-05-03

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: MGM Plus Amazon Channel
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK

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