Which actor would be a good Philip Marlowe today?

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Clive Owen???? Get this guy back in movies.
His name was linked with a Marlowe series a few years ago.

I don't know the character well and I've never read the stories. My Dad is a fan though, and I think Dick Powell is the actor he liked the best.



His name was linked with a Marlowe series a few years ago.

I don't know the character well and I've never read the stories. My Dad is a fan though, and I think Dick Powell is the actor he liked the best.
You know what actor working today would make a good Dick Powell/Phillip Marlowe?

Paul Dano...what do you guys think?



His name was linked with a Marlowe series a few years ago.

I don't know the character well and I've never read the stories. My Dad is a fan though, and I think Dick Powell is the actor he liked the best.
I think the choice would interest many women. For men, I suspect Owen is too lightweight. I can't see him as a tough guy.

If you like noir, and haven't already seen it, The Big Sleep is not only great Raymond Chandler, but a great movie as well-- from 1946 with Bogart & Bacall. Some would argue that Bogart was the best Marlowe.

~Doc



If you like noir, and haven't already seen it, The Big Sleep is not only great Raymond Chandler, but a great movie as well-- from 1946 with Bogart & Bacall. Some would argue that Bogart was the best Marlowe.
I've seen most of it and it is very good.



Brolin would be good too.



If nothing else, he’s got the classic Hollywood gumshoe look nailed down.
The more I think about it, the more I like your choice. Brolin has demonstrated his acting chops in his last several serious roles. Plus he has that ability to be humorous when called for, just as Bogie had.



A very left-field choice :


Josh Hartnett
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He sure looks the part! I don't know his work.

~Doc
If you haven't seen The Wire, then you must. Phenomenal show.
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I think Dominic West would be a great Phillip Marlowe...a seriously versatile and seriously underrated actor.
Yeah, he has the look. Depends upon whether he could impersonate a convincing Calif. accent from the 1940s.., although Bogie was good with a Brooklyn accent.

Pretty fair description of Philip Marlowe in Wikipedia:

"Underneath the wisecracking, hard-drinking, tough private eye, Marlowe is quietly contemplative and philosophical and enjoys chess and poetry. While he is not afraid to risk physical harm, he does not dish out violence merely to settle scores. Morally upright, he is not fooled by the genre's usual femmes fatales, such as Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep."



If you haven't seen The Wire, then you must. Phenomenal show.
Eh, it was certainly very well-written and ambitious on the whole, but it still felt kind of low-energy in general, which kept it from leaving a bigger impression on me than it did.



Eh, it was certainly very well-written and ambitious on the whole, but it still felt kind of low-energy in general, which kept it from leaving a bigger impression on me than it did.
I had a weird reaction to the show. I started it with my wife and we both fell off about 3, maybe 4 episodes in. The amount of characters and subplots, we just weren't in the mood for that. I went and picked it up some time after and although I grabbed onto it, I will say that it wasn't until season 3, maybe, that it really, really hooked me. And still, I would say that it wasn't until I finished it that I didn't really see and appreciate the whole scope and impact of it, to the point that I find myself referencing it in conversations about current socio-political situations ("see? just like in The Wire"... "you know, in The Wire, they said this or that"). I keep remembering certain monologues and moments that I didn't think had much of an impact, but then they did; like Burrell's monologue towards the end. That's certainly one moment that sticks out for me. So it's something that kinda crept up with me afterwards.



Well the best choice is always Idris Elba


But a more realistic choice would be Jeffrey Dean Morgan





I would personally love it if John Hamm agrees to it, but he's against franchises



Could definitely see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Marlowe