Add Liam Neeson to the impressive list of leading men who have played Raymond Chandler’s laconic anti-hero gumshoe Philip Marlowe, a roster highlighted by Dick Powell in “Murder, My Sweet” (1944), Humphrey Bogart in “The Big Sleep” (1946), Robert Montgomery in “Lady in the Lake” (1947), James Garner in “Marlowe” (1969), Elliott Gould in “The Long Goodbye” and Robert Mitchum twice, in “Farewell My Lovely” (1975) and “The Big Sleep” (1978). What a group!
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.
