Some movies are good, and some movies are just trying to be other movies. I wanted to like Marlowe with Liam Neeson and Diana Kruger, but unfortunately, despite a great concept, it isn’t the movie that it should be. Old-school detective noir movies are great. There are a lot of good ones with Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, and even Jimmy Stewart. They are the product of their time. Sometimes a movie comes along that can recapture that same old magic. Chinatown is a great example. LA Confidential is another great movie that captures that same feeling. Both these movies are unique. And I wish Marlowe had been more like those films. But after watching it, it feels like this film just wanted to be Chinatown or The Maltese Falcon. With a great cast, this film should have been so much more.

So, what went right in this film? It looked great, the cast is brilliant. Liam Neeson as a leading man in a 1930s Detective story really does make the film better than it is. Diane Kruger is a gorgeous Dame from a bygone era and her performance is pretty good as well. The movie has the look of a 1930s detective film.

With a classic Los Angeles as its background, it feels like you’re in LA right before World War II.  There’s a certain classic feel of old Hollywood. Unfortunately, even good performances in the way I’m moving looks can’t save a film. I love the cast. The music was great, but all this film ended up doing is making me want to watch Chinatown or LA Confidential. I admit, I went back and watched both of those films after watching Marlowe. And those are two films that get it right when it comes to a good story, and a great cast while having the right look and feel to a classic Hollywood Story in LA.

The biggest problem with this film is the unoriginal plot. While I am not going to spoil everything, a jealous lover wrapped in a murder plot has been done to death. In fact, they were done to death in the 1930s and 40s when these kinds of films were exciting serials that you just watched at the theater and they were so simple that you could film an entire movie in a week. But that was then, and this is now. And we do need lots that are a little bit more complicated. We need plots that have some originality to them. This movie felt like the latest episode of the week with some classic TV show where I already knew how it was going to end. Sad to say I figured out the ending within the first 20 minutes of the film. There’s nothing wrong with making a B-Film, there are a lot of great westerns and detective movies and especially horror movies that fit within that category and we can still watch them today because we know what we’re getting. They’re just silly fun and mindless entertainment. However, Marlowe as a film tries too hard to be something that it’s not. The best thing a filmmaker can do is not try to recreate a film even if you have a similar style, but to have something original and unique. That doesn’t happen with this movie and although the performances are good, it’s not enough to make it a better film. With that said, I wouldn’t mind seeing this cast in a similar film if the plot was better. Should you watch the movie, sure, feel free, but don’t spend any money on it. Watch it for free on a streaming service.