Private detective Philip Marlowe smokes, mumbles and wanders through a Los Angeles where he no longer belongs. In Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, the classic film noir gets a radical update: slower, lighter, but also more disruptive than ever.

In The Long Goodbye, Marlowe finds himself embroiled in a mystery involving a missing writer, a dead husband, and a whole host of shady characters, from wealthy sinners to corrupt cops. But instead of tightly directed action, Altman lets the film meander—with floating cameras, mumbling dialogue, and a protagonist who watches rather than intervenes.

The film is both an homage to and a demolition of the detective genre. Ironic, atmospheric, and visually stunning, with a repetitive, melancholic theme song as its common thread.