Marlowe
Briarcliff Entertainment | Release Date: February 15, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
13
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 15, 2023
Revisionist this may be, but it’s done with smarts and, sure ... perceptiveness and sensitivity. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 13, 2023
Nobody’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. Read full review
67
ColliderErick MassotoFeb 15, 2023
Luckily, Neeson’s performance is compelling enough to keep you interested, even though as the case unfolds you realize that it’s going in a pretty obvious direction. That’s why the movie greatly benefits from its cast, whose undisputable talent fire up the screen and make you feel like the trip to Golden Age Hollywood — which was beautifully recreated with a grade-A production and costume design — was worth your time. Read full review
67
The Film StageEthan VestbyFeb 15, 2023
This 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. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 15, 2023
The mystery isn’t all that engrossing, and the picture devolves into some CYA third act over-explaining to compensate for that. It can be a bit much, and more often than not. So OK, maybe it is a bad picture that’s still fun. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 15, 2023
The movie doesn’t exactly do Philip Marlowe a disservice but neither does it successfully re-invent the character for a new era and its attendant audience. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeMar 16, 2023
Neeson is, of course, perfectly capable of chewing through the quips while carrying the city’s sins on his broad shoulders. But he needs more help from a rigid script to make sense of a character that seems defined by archetype alone. Read full review
55
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 14, 2023
There 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. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedFeb 21, 2023
Liam Neeson is the dullest denizen of this particularly unctuous Hollywood After Dark. As Marlowe, he uncovers the usual blackmail, grand larceny, homicide and other crimes corrupting the klieg light rays of Southern California, without much energy or wit. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleFeb 15, 2023
As much as Neeson might seem to have the special set of skills required to play Marlowe, his detective feels hollow and maybe a little too tired. Read full review
50
Original-CinLiam LaceyFeb 15, 2023
There’s nothing here that sparks surprise. The film remains mechanical and stilted, like some grim combination of taxidermy and ventriloquism. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerFeb 15, 2023
While 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. Read full review
42
The PlaylistChristian GallichioFeb 15, 2023
Marlowe isn’t the catastrophe that others may make it out to be, but it’s instead just inert, forgettable immediately after the credits roll. Jordan feels like he’s going through the motions, uninterested in bringing any personality to the genre. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubRay GreeneFeb 15, 2023
A small elegance, expressed in decent production values, terse pacing and long lateral camera takes, is the main thing director Neil Jordan has to offer in the mostly misguided Marlowe, the latest of perhaps too many attempts to pour the old wine of Chandler’s fiction into new bottles, and then sell the resulting concoction as vintage. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 14, 2023
There’s a little bit of fun and interest along the way and Lange has some fun with her eccentric persona, but this feels under-energised. Read full review
40
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganFeb 23, 2023
The 70-year-old Neeson lacks both the physical stamina and charisma to pull off the Marlowe character; his fight and action sequences are sluggish and incredulous, and there’s zero chemistry between Marlowe and Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), the beautiful blond who hires him to investigate the sudden disappearance of her former lover Nico Peterson. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 15, 2023
The 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. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFeb 14, 2023
For 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. Read full review
40
Screen DailyStaff (Not Credited)Feb 13, 2023
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. Read full review
30
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiFeb 17, 2023
Despite a stellar cast, Marlowe doesn’t rise to the occasion, stumbling along without ever finding its footing. Read full review
30
VarietyGuy LodgeOct 5, 2022
A phony, flimsy attempt at vintage noir. Read full review
25
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 15, 2023
Less intriguingly convoluted than concussed into lifelessness, “Marlowe” is the cinematic equivalent of a word salad: It parrots all the right lines while striking all the right poses, without saying much of anything at all. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 13, 2023
With 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. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 13, 2023
Neil 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. Read full review
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