Poodle Springs

Not really a bad movie, James Caan is is always good though for some reason I couldn't quite see him as Marlowe, maybe it was the hair. I am probably being unfair. The movie is from the unfinished novel by Raymond Chandler finished by Robert B Parker. Having read the finished novel and being a Chandler fan the finished treatment of the novel just didn't set right with me. But that being said the movie was not a bad detective story. Why was Linda changed to Laura? Oh well.

This is a very engaging detective movie, very well filmed, almost beautiful looking at times. The story did a good job grabbing my interest right away, and before too long I was happily engaged in the story being told, and wanting to see where it was going to go. There are a couple of good twists in the story, and you really have to be on your toes to remember which character is which person. The only real disappointment is the way the case wraps up. The wrap up of the case is not very well thought out, but you know that's kind of a minor complaint given that it happens an hour and twenty something minutes into the film, and honestly its not like the ending of the story takes away from the enjoyment I had following James Caan around as he investigates various leads.

Its a somewhat old fashioned, downbeat, detective film too. This could've very easily been made in the 70's alongside Chinatown and The Long Goodbye and I think it can stand proudly alongside them (even if its not as amazing as those two films) in terms of looks, style, and tone Also in its lead actor. James Caan is not someone whom I don't think was ever actually cast as a detective/noir character before, and its a wonder why because he actually fits the role beautifully. Its surprisingly good work from him because i would've never thought of him as being someone who could make a good old school shamus, and yet he's very effective. He's also excellently downbeat in the part too.

Its well worth watching should you catch it somewhere. Oh yes and Dina Myer is excellent as Caan's/Marlowe's new bride who's a society dame trying to see where she fits into his world.

He is a good actor though and definitely tries. Marlowe fans such as myself have to remember that Chandler never finished this novel because of failing health and Robert Parker, of SPENSER fame, tries to. Sadly he doesn't have Chandler's descriptive ability nor does he really grasp the character. Tom Stoppard, a very good playwright, should stick to that medium. Worth collecting for the history of Chandler/Marlowe.

The late Raymond Chandler's unfinished manuscript POODLE SPRINGS, masterfully completed as a novel by SPENCER creator Robert B. Parker, has been given a first-class screen treatment by Director Bob Rafelson, Screenwriter Tom Stoppard and Production Designer Mark Friedberg. Every familiar signature trait of the Chandler-Marlowe Los Angeles is meticulously recreated and served up with nearly reverential devotion. James Caan is a letter-perfect Marlowe. The part fits him like his gray fedora, no small feat considering he follows in the shoes of such legends as Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. From matchbooks to automobiles to motels the period atmosphere is extraordinary. When a character drinks a Tab cola, the bottle is a 1963 Tab bottle. When Marlowe pays a call on the rich and powerful, the decor is '63 chic. There is no mistaking it.

Phillip Marlowe is the paradigm 1940s private investigator, but setting this story in 1963, four years after Chandler's death in 1959, is not only correct, it is part of the material's distinguished treatment. Had Chandler lived a few more years, this might well be the Marlowe he wrote for us. Parker, Rafelson and Stoppard have honored the Chandler-Marlowe heritage as the golden fleece of the American film noir and hard-boiled genres. Which, of course, it is.

One question: Why did I just happen to catch this on cable TV a year after it was released? I'd never heard anything about it. Such excellent work deserves publicity. Lots of it.

This film is not really bad, per se, but it failed to engage as much as the material might have. James Caan does an excellent job with the role of Marlowe, but I feel that he was clearly too old. Dina Meyer and Julie Campbell were just okay, and Nia Peeples was good in a small part. Good photography and sets, evoking 1963 pretty well. I suppose that it's an okay attempt at modern film noir, but it seems to be missing something.