| Director | Neil Jordan |
|---|---|
| Genre | film based on a novel, film noir, police film, thriller film |
| Runtime | 109 min |
| Country | France, Ireland, Spain, United States |
| Budget | €22.3 million |
| Box office | $6.4 million |
In 1939 Los Angeles, private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by glamorous heiress Clare Cavendish to find her missing lover, Nico Peterson, a prop master at Pacific Film Studios. Marlowe discovers that Peterson was killed after being run over outside the exclusive Corbata Club. When he informs Cavendish of Peterson's death, she insists she recently saw Peterson in Tijuana. Frustrated by her secrecy, Marlowe leaves, encountering Cavendish's mother, former film star Dorothy Quincannon.
Marlowe visits Peterson's grave and encounters a grieving woman who flees. His friend, homicide detective Joe Green, declines to investigate the true victim as he was positively identified by the Corbata's owner Floyd Hanson. Marlowe meets Hanson at the club, but both fail to extract information from each other. As he leaves, Marlowe spots the woman from the grave—Peterson's sister, Lynn—and arranges to meet her later at the Cabana Club. Their conversation is observed by Hanson. When Marlowe arrives, he is unsuccessfully ambushed by two men.
Quincannon attempts to hire Marlowe to find Peterson herself. She admits that her strained relationship with Cavendish stems from years of pretending she was her niece, following the advice of her former lover, Pacific's owner Joseph O'Reilly. Quincannon discloses that Peterson was the talent agent for actress Amanda Toxteth, who informs Marlowe that Peterson frequently smuggled cocaine from Tijuana. Marlowe breaks into Peterson's house and finds Lynn, but they are ambushed by two Mexican men searching for someone called "Serena". Marlowe is knocked unconscious, and Lynn is taken captive.
Later, Marlowe is picked up by drug lord Lou Hendricks and his henchman, Cedric. Hendricks reveals that Peterson smuggled drugs for, and has stolen a large amount of cocaine from, him. Marlowe enlists his friend, police officer Bernie Ohls, to search for Lynn. Meanwhile, Cavendish visits Marlowe and attempts to seduce him. He rejects her advances but agrees to dance with her. Later, he secretly follows her to a rendezvous with O'Reilly and encounters Quincannon, who expresses her anger over her daughter's relationship with the much older and influential O'Reilly.
The next day, Ohls discloses to Marlowe that Lynn was tortured, raped, and murdered. He traces the Mexican assailants to the Corbata and gives Marlowe his unofficial support to avenge Lynn. Marlowe confronts Hanson, who offers him a drink. Suspecting it is poisoned, Marlowe disposes of it and feigns death. Hanson has Marlowe taken to a hidden area where the Mexicans have been killed, Hendricks is being tortured, and Cedric has been restrained. Hendricks reveals that "Serena" is a mermaid statue containing the stolen cocaine, which Peterson hid in a nearby fish tank. Marlowe frees Cedric, and together they kill Hanson and his men, inadvertently destroying the statue and the drugs. When Hendricks threatens Cedric with lifelong debt to repay their value, Cedric kills him.
Marlowe returns home to find Peterson waiting for him. Peterson admits to feeling no guilt over Lynn's death, and his "dead body" was a musician who resembled him. He asks Marlowe to arrange a meeting with Cavendish at the studio prop house.
Peterson meets Cavendish and reveals his intent to sell records of every drug deal made through the studio to the highest bidder, which would destroy O'Reilly's reputation. As Marlowe arrives, Cavendish betrays Peterson, setting him and the evidence on fire. Marlowe deduces that she wanted him to find Peterson to ensure he was dead, and O'Reilly will now be indebted to her. He chooses not to turn her in but takes her gun.
Sometime later, Cavendish has become vice president of the studio and is attempting to reconcile with her mother, who has returned to acting. She offers Marlowe a job as the head of security, but he instead recommends Cedric. He later gives Cavendish's gun to Cedric for security.