Farewell, My Lovely

A hulking ex-con hires detective Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) to track down his lost love Velma in this adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel.

Farewell, My Lovely is a well-done adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s classic novel that falls just short of the mark.

Robert Mitchum pulls off the cynicism and laconic charm of Chandler’s protagonist, Philip Marlowe, with ease, but at nearly 60 years, he’s easily fifteen to twenty years too old for the part. It’s especially a problem given that Charlotte Rampling, playing a vampy would-be love interest, is almost half his age. Indeed, Mitchum sometimes walks a fine line between looking world-weary and just plain weary.

The production does a decent job of recreating 1940s Los Angeles, and the shadowy cinematography evokes just the right atmosphere. Further, the film takes advantage of its R-rating, putting the seedier aspects of Chandler’s story on full display. Yet, it often doesn’t quite feel right. Whether it’s Rampling’s cadence or the sometimes-gratuitous nudity, there too many moments when you realize—if only for an instant—that you’re looking at a recreation rather than the genuine article. Interestingly this film marks the only theatrically released Chandler adaptation done as a period piece. All the others were either made in the 40s, and thus contemporary, or set in their own times, such as Marlowe, set in the 60s, or Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye, set in the 70s.

But these flaws shouldn’t deter Chandler fans from giving Farewell, My Lovely a look. It’s much more faithful than Murder, My Sweet, and Mitchum is a good Marlowe, just wrong for this particular story. He’d of been perfect if they’d chosen The Long Goodbye as their source material instead.