If you are looking for a traditional crime thriller you'll be disappointed. Piecing together the truth is abandoned in favour of a big reveal at the end.
What you get instead is an hour and a half of atmosphere, as Elliot Gould's Philip Marlowe drifts around Los Angeles, trying to be an honest man, trying to make sense of what is going on around him, but getting misled and mistreated by almost everyone he comes into contact with.
The colours are washed out. Scenes are shot in darkness, through windows, or in reflections. Altman's camera wanders around the scene as people are talking, and talking over one another.
Just sit back and soak it in.
What you get instead is an hour and a half of atmosphere, as Elliot Gould's Philip Marlowe drifts around Los Angeles, trying to be an honest man, trying to make sense of what is going on around him, but getting misled and mistreated by almost everyone he comes into contact with.
The colours are washed out. Scenes are shot in darkness, through windows, or in reflections. Altman's camera wanders around the scene as people are talking, and talking over one another.
Just sit back and soak it in.