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Well, it might have taken me three evenings because I'm perpetually tired and have next to no time management skills (and because I was trying [and mostly failing] to write another fic, but eh--you win some, you lose some), but I did finish The Big Sleep and loved it just as much as I hoped/expected I would. Most of that comes down to the characters, since the plot is very...let's just say intricate, and watching it in half-an-hour-ish chunks over a couple of late nights didn't exactly help. And yes, it's about blackmail and murder and pornography (or at least very veiled references to pornography) and sleazy guys and questionable women, but it's also about Philip Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge--he's not quite sleazy, she's definitely questionable--falling in love while he solves a mystery she'd really rather he didn't solve. Which has to be about the most perfect set-up for any romance, ever. I'm just saying.
The funny thing is that, despite all the trouble they make for each other, Marlowe and Vivian's romance isn't what I'd call angsty or tortured; they connect almost from the get-go and it's clear even in their first scene together that they like each other, or at least find each other interesting. You don't get the idea that Vivian has all that many friends (she never mentions any friends, at least not that I remember), or many people in general to talk to, since her father is old and frail and would rather not know the specifics of what's going on, anyway, and her younger sister's just something else, in addition to having plenty of problems of her own. Obviously Vivian loves them, or at least cares enough that she doesn't want to see them dragged through the mud, but as far as scintillating conversation goes, Marlowe's the best she's got. And he really is the best--he's witty and he respects her, and he cares about what's going on because he wants to put a stop to it once and for all, not just sweep it under the rug, and even when she's doing her damnedest to push him away they have so much fun together. Every conversation between them was an absolute delight to watch; you enjoy watching them together because they enjoy being together, no matter the circumstances. The "no matter the circumstances" part really hits home in the last scene, but it's a running thread though the entire movie, and probably about 50% of what makes their chemistry so great--for me, anyway. The other 50% is either their banter or solely the way Marlowe calls Vivian "angel"; I haven't decided yet.
It's not that I don't love a good tortured and/or angsty romance--I live and breathe for them, honestly--but the hate-to-friendship-to-love trope (which, again, I'll never say no to) is so, so, SO common in romances that watching this movie made me think that I haven't seen all too many romances at all where both characters are pretty much immediately comfortable in each other's company. I don't think it always works, and I especially don't think it would have worked nearly as well with actors who didn't have Humphrey-Bogart-and-Lauren-Bacall-levels of chemistry, but when it does work? Hoo boy. It's really something special.
The funny thing is that, despite all the trouble they make for each other, Marlowe and Vivian's romance isn't what I'd call angsty or tortured; they connect almost from the get-go and it's clear even in their first scene together that they like each other, or at least find each other interesting. You don't get the idea that Vivian has all that many friends (she never mentions any friends, at least not that I remember), or many people in general to talk to, since her father is old and frail and would rather not know the specifics of what's going on, anyway, and her younger sister's just something else, in addition to having plenty of problems of her own. Obviously Vivian loves them, or at least cares enough that she doesn't want to see them dragged through the mud, but as far as scintillating conversation goes, Marlowe's the best she's got. And he really is the best--he's witty and he respects her, and he cares about what's going on because he wants to put a stop to it once and for all, not just sweep it under the rug, and even when she's doing her damnedest to push him away they have so much fun together. Every conversation between them was an absolute delight to watch; you enjoy watching them together because they enjoy being together, no matter the circumstances. The "no matter the circumstances" part really hits home in the last scene, but it's a running thread though the entire movie, and probably about 50% of what makes their chemistry so great--for me, anyway. The other 50% is either their banter or solely the way Marlowe calls Vivian "angel"; I haven't decided yet.
It's not that I don't love a good tortured and/or angsty romance--I live and breathe for them, honestly--but the hate-to-friendship-to-love trope (which, again, I'll never say no to) is so, so, SO common in romances that watching this movie made me think that I haven't seen all too many romances at all where both characters are pretty much immediately comfortable in each other's company. I don't think it always works, and I especially don't think it would have worked nearly as well with actors who didn't have Humphrey-Bogart-and-Lauren-Bacall-levels of chemistry, but when it does work? Hoo boy. It's really something special.
