Where's Marlowe?

Rating:
Summary: Enter Marlowe!
Review: A marvelously quirky comedy the likes of which Hollywood should turn out more consistantly! Cult fave Miguel Ferrer (currently starring in NBC's 'Crossing Jordan') turns in an exceptional performance as Boone, an L.A. private detective followed around by two film students in this hilarious mockumentary. When Boone's partner suddenly turns up involved in one of the cases, the private eye reluctantly accepts assistance from the two students ... trying to solve a crime and shoot their documentary simultaneously! Great quick laughs for the serious film buff.

Rating:
Summary: Enter Marlowe!
Review: A marvelously quirky comedy the likes of which Hollywood should turn out more consistantly! Cult fave Miguel Ferrer (currently starring in NBC's 'Crossing Jordan') turns in an exceptional performance as Boone, an L.A. private detective followed around by two film students in this hilarious mockumentary. When Boone's partner suddenly turns up involved in one of the cases, the private eye reluctantly accepts assistance from the two students ... trying to solve a crime and shoot their documentary simultaneously! Great quick laughs for the serious film buff.

Rating:
Summary: The Big Sleeper
Review: Aside from the witty screenplay, believable psuedo-camera work (you need to see the film to understand this), and neo-realist feel of the film, Miguel Ferrer's acting alone makes this film worthwhile to watch. But Miguel has stepped into a film that is not only a wonderful acting vehicle for him to play with, it is also a funny and refreshing noir drama that is part Richard Linklater (Slacker), part Dashiell Hammet (Maltese Falcon), and part De Sica (Bicycle Thief).

The film reeks of independant film making, and comes away smelling like roses. It's a shame Hollywood did not take more interest in this film, but then perhaps that is what makes Where's Marlowe all the more unique in an era of cinematic cliche and redundancy (How many Lethal Weapons are we up to now?). For all of you John Huston-Raymond Chandler-Double Indemnity fans, this film is a must see. And if you're a little tired of the Hollywood machine that's been churning out the same mindless tripe and sequels nearing the double digits, give Where's Marlowe an opportunity to expand your movie credentials.

Rating:
Summary: THE Grand American Private Dude Meta-Movie
Review: This practically undistributed movie deconstructs the deeply hilarious American Private Dude archetype MUCH more funnily/sagely/gently/smartly/straightly than the also quite amusing, if brazenly campy/overcooked/dumbed-down, "The Big Lebowski". Commercial media wizards reject complexity, especially comic complexity (anything not BROADLY slapstick/satiric?) BEFORE it can come to market? Apparently. Wonderful stuff. Rent/buy it if you can find it. You might be charmed. You might even wonder WHY our professional masters consider us so stupid? If we want ONLY movies that wash over us sensationally, WAVES of light/sound, we don't need ANY movies that ask for our attention, our thoughtful participation? Of course. If, on the other hand... Ah well...

Rating:
Summary: an absurd and quirky delight!
Review: What a fun movie! This film takes the private eye genre to an inventively funny new place, where the camera becomes one of the characters and the invisible wall between filmed and film-maker seems to crumble in hilariously surprising ways. With mockumentary seriousness, the film begins with New York water and ends up in LA, where the real star of the movie, Miguel Ferrer, playing the hapless but intrepid private dick "Joe Boone," imagines himself a Phil Marlowe or Sam Spade P.I. knight errant in a world of sleaze, corruption, glitz, glamour, murder, and of course, incompetent independent filmmakers. It's a delightful film, and just a shame that more people haven't even heard of it, much less seen it. Well worth your time to see it!

Rating:
Summary: Superb throughout
Review: Wonderful movie, both for the humor and pathos of the main plot and for the discussions of what's real when it's filmed. Thoughtful, excellent performances, and true humor.