The Big Sleep

“Pretty good for an old-timey movie.” That’s how my brother described it. He saw it for a film studies class, and he probably wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. It’s old, filmed in the 1940’s, based on a novel from the 1930’s, and that alone makes it sound out-of-touch with today’s expectations. But right off the bat, The Big Sleep has one good thing going for it: a timeless sense of humor. That is, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The main character Detective Marlowe (played by Humphrey Bogart) is clearly in-over-his-head. Throughout The Big Sleep, there’s a running theme of knights, how they are weary and old-fashioned, struggling in an increasingly ruthless world. Detective Marlowe is that knight (which reminds me of how George Lucas described Indiana Jones as a knight in a leather jacket). People are always pulling a gun on Marlowe, double-crossing him to the point where he can hardly believe it anymore—again?! But he does get his own sort of payback on these double-crossers in a humorous scene near the end. I won’t spoil it! I still haven’t seen the movie myself, you know, even though it sounds pretty good . . . .