The Long Goodbye

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The Long Goodbye

R

1973

1h 52m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

58 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Private detective Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is asked by his old buddy Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) for a ride to Mexico. He obliges, and when he gets back to Los Angeles is questioned by police about the death of Terry's wife. Marlowe remains a suspect until it's reported that Terry has committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe doesn't buy it but takes a new case from a beautiful blond, Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt), who coincidentally has a past with Terry.

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Critics Consensus

An ice-cold noir that retains Robert Altman's idiosyncratic sensibilities, The Long Goodbye ranks among the smartest and most satisfying Marlowe mysteries.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

12/19/2022

Altman holds genre clichés and conventions up to the light of modern life—and uses them as a prism to reveal its hidden tones.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

11/26/2021

4/5

Some of the improvisational scenes don't entirely work, but it's an ambitious and artful reinvention.

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Philip French

Guardian

07/17/2020

A masterpiece of sorts, it digs beneath the surface of the supposedly liberated spirit of the times to expose the ethos that took America into the Vietnam war and produced Watergate.

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Michael Walsh

The Province (Vancouver)

Apr 14

A moody, diffuse and disorganized film, The Long Goodbye bids a painfully drawn-out farewell to Philip Marlowe as a screen character. Though I stuck to the absolute end, it was hard not to envy that uncommonly finicky cat.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

04/17/2025

Even when The Long Goodbye is ’70s shaggy, director Robert Altman (at the height of his powers) maintains a core tension within Marlowe’s wild goose chase.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

04/16/2024

4/5

It all comes down to the wisecracking Gould – messy and unkept, with a cigarette loosely dangling from the corner of his mouth. He’s the special sauce that makes the whole thing work and a perfect fit for the kind of movie Altman is shooting for.

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Junior S

@RT39899143 1d

If one watches movies seldom, Altman can be perplexing. But the more one watches movies, and pays attention to them, the more one is refreshed by Altman, and The Long Goodbye is one of Altman’s best; it’s pacing and performances and naturalism are balm for the soul. Elliot Gould gives an Oscar worthy performance of fatalism and it’s unlikely companions: integrity, compassion. One doesn’t really know, as it is with all the greats, what one has witnessed until it is over and has been viewed twice. It is a movie to let wash over you. It is about process. From his camera work to his closeups, Altman has a gift for eliciting natural performances as powerful as humanly possible. He rewrites contrivance by sharp, insightful observation, thereby obliterating it. These themes are present in nearly all of Altman’s movies, but never more congealed and effortless than in The Long Goodbye.

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Kyle M

@RT77296778 Aug 2

While "Nashville" is his magnum opus by signature scale, this is Robert Altman’s unexpectedly best film over its simplicity with retained improvising approach of subtle eccentricity that’s actually intellectually aligned onto the noir genre’s integrity through Elliot Gould’s captivatingly sharp, witty performance that impeccably powers the film. (B+)

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T G

@jetzone Jul 3

Don't know how this movie got by me - just watched for the first time. Loved the (now) period piece and very impressed how Gould carried most of the movie. Great vehicle for the actor. Highly recommend this one.

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S. O

@Col._Angus Jun 21

Just watched it for a 2nd time after many years. It still holds up, although by todays standards most probably won't like it because there aren't enough special effects and explosions. Give it a watch. It's very very good.

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F P

@Effeppi May 18

A great movie, nothing incredibly surpriseing tho

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Mark W

@MinneMark612 Mar 15

Great plot and loved the gritty early 70's LA. I wish Gould's Marlowe wasn't quite so sloppy but overall I really liked the movie. I wish there were sequels.

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Robert Altman

Director

Elliott Gould

Philip Marlowe

Nina van Pallandt

Eileen Wade

Sterling Hayden

Roger Wade

Mark Rydell

Marty Augustine

Henry Gibson

Dr. Verringer

The Long Goodbye: Official Clip - Chasing Eileen Wade

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The Long Goodbye: Official Clip - Wade's Suicide

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The Long Goodbye: Official Clip - Freedom From Verringer's

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The Long Goodbye: Official Clip - Interrogation

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The Long Goodbye: Official Clip - A Born Loser

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Synopsis

Private detective Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is asked by his old buddy Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) for a ride to Mexico. He obliges, and when he gets back to Los Angeles is questioned by police about the death of Terry's wife. Marlowe remains a suspect until it's reported that Terry has committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe doesn't buy it but takes a new case from a beautiful blond, Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt), who coincidentally has a past with Terry.

Director: Robert Altman
Producer: Jerry Bick
Screenwriter: Raymond Chandler, Leigh Brackett
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: United Artists
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 1973, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Runtime: 1h 52m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Scope (2.35:1)

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