★★★
In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.
Classification: 15
A surprisingly effective noir drama bolstered by a powerful lead performance and artistic vision from writer, director and star Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn is a compelling passion project that tackles interesting ideas but is let down by a protracted runtime. With a murder mystery that taps into gentrification, social injustice, and the complicated natures of morality and power, Norton's reimagining of Jonathan Lethem's novel of the same name captures a timeless struggle to issues gripping America. Lethem's novel takes place in a more contemporary setting but through placing it in an equally morally ambiguous noir at a time of renewed American spirit, Motherless Brooklyn sends audiences on a captivating journey.
Norton as lead character Lionel Essrog, a private investigator impaired by undiagnosed Tourette syndrome but is gifted with an intuitive mind and photographic memory is a fantastic protagonist for this noir. At first glance, the film may give an impression of an egotistical vehicle for Norton to flex his creative muscles in an ill-advised vanity project that sees him overact the character's disability. However, from the outset, Norton's love and respect for the material is clear as his performance Lionel never steers into offensive or distasteful areas. This isn't Norton trying to win an award through virtue of twitching or shouting funny words but using these traits as an internal examination of the character's psyche and a reflection to the world he lives in, tapping into something deeper. Due to the setting, Lionel is underestimated, regarded by his fellow investigator colleagues as 'freakshow' and isn't trusted to deal with the more finessed elements of the job. Classic noir protagonists, the hard-boiled detectives who are tough and jaded to life, who only emote through their narration and keep a calm collected exterior in the face of danger, the real Humphrey Bogarts of this world. Lionel Essrog is not this, that image is more suiting to Essrog's mentor Frank Minna portrayed by Bruce Willis whose murder is what spurns Lionel into discovering the truth behind Minna's discoveries.
Lionel provides classic noir narration but Motherless Brooklyn forces these iconic staples of the genre to be altered by Lionel's affliction in refreshing ways. This is a character who can't just blend into the background of a smoky jazz bar or confront a suspect with ease, Lionel's mind makes him an effective and disarming figure to this milieu. One of the best examples of this is when he is "asked for a light" by a beautiful femme fatale and due to his obsessive nature, is dissatisfied with every match he strikes, blowing it out when he brings it near her cigarette and the woman walks away annoyed. Lionel's inability to control his outbursts, to be forced to be emotional makes him stand apart in a society where everyone is forced to conform to these notions of stature and authority. This disability tied with his emotional connection to Minna makes for a new spin on the detective who just can't drop the case despite ominous threats from powerful men. Norton's script mixes these noir tropes into an impressive narrative that sees this unfocused mind try and make sense of these spiralling mysteries of corruption within New York. Initially, it's difficult to make sense of what Minna was involved with, blackmail gone wrong but Norton's script slowly takes pieces and fragmented clues and has it become clearer and clearer over the runtime. Norton never makes Lionel's disability feel like one, however, he is a capable and quick-thinking detective and while Motherless Brooklyn feels at least thirty minutes too long, the audience never tires of Lionel's unique way of seeing the world.
Most of the film bleeds with Norton's affection for the noir genre through the many hats he wears on the production but especially his performance. His supporting cast inhabits those same tropes and try and bring some of their own flair with fluctuating results. Willis for his short screen time is the classic Bogart, stetson hat-wearing gumshoe alongside Bobby Cannavale and Dallas Roberts doing their best to encompass that aesthetic as well. Willem Dafoe as Paul is, unfortunately, shoeboxed into a lot of expository dialogue, continuously explaining to Lionel the selfish and Machiavellian natures of the film's antagonist Moses Randolph portrayed by Alec Baldwin. Baldwin is a surprise in his few scenes, seemingly a classic greedy industrialist who shall crush all those who threaten his wealth and power, the scenes he shares with Norton show a hidden depth to his ambitions. Randolph's position as a corrupting influence in politics, racially motivated in targeting minority neighbourhoods to build his developments bears resemblance to a former real estate baron from New York. These comparisons becoming all the more palpable when reminded who Baldwin frequently parodies on Saturday nights, making Motherless Brooklyn's themes of equality, race and accountability to power all the more relevant to our contemporary world despite the film's noir setting.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is not the film's version of the femme fatale, in fact, this where Norton blends the noir genre into more social and romantic drama subplots through her performance. Mbatha-Raw's integral performance as Laura Rose does not feel like an archetype and Motherless Brooklyn's commitment to exploring her story and the ideas of culture and community vanishing with the passage of time. This era depicted in the film has gone by but is kept alive by music, landmarks, art and memory, Randolph's efforts to rebuild the city in his controlled image comes into conflict with Laura's leading protests to protect neighbourhoods forcibly being turned into dilapidated slums. Memory is key to the film, not only through Lionel's eidetic recollections but in how the characters view who they are and how their legacies will impact the future. Randolph sees the future as something that must be built by destroying the old ways whereas Rose sees the past as something that must be preserved and not steamrolled to serve one unilateral vision of tomorrow. Although these larger themes get diluted through more personal discoveries that Lionel makes in his investigation, Norton's efforts to have Motherless Brooklyn be more than standard noir pays off.
The production design and cinematography embrace this style with terrific results as Beth Mickle and Dick Pope's work creates Norton's vision of his noir soaked city. It has all the hallmarks; detectives, dames and plenty of soulful jazz from Daniel Pemberton's soothing and emotional classic score. Which makes one of the detriments to the film its lack of monochromatic camera work, perhaps Norton's intentions are not to let the characters' struggles get bogged in nostalgic black and white filmography. Although Norton and Pope have shots especially during Lionel's visits to the jazz club The Red Rooster framed in spotlighted silhouettes, it feels that Norton definitely wants to go full noir most of the time. All the costumes, sets and props fit the mould and sell the world but perhaps because the issues and themes are still so relevant to our modern life, placing them behind a screen of the past would limit the power behind the story. While Lionel and Laura's story and struggles take place in the 50s, the issues they face alongside Randolph's greed are still problems facing modern America.
After twenty years, Norton's dream of Motherless Brooklyn has paid off although there are bumps along the way during the long runtime it is still an enjoyable and fascinating reimagining and tribute to noir. The reveals to the mysteries aren't underwhelming from a storytelling perspective but only from a pacing one, what Lionel discovers has great power in the film but Norton is unable to avoid a sense of 'that's it?' when its all over. It all still works in the end due to Norton's passion both in front and behind the camera and its larger ideas on American legacies vanishing in the face of industrialisation.
Director: #EdwardNorton
Cast: #EdwardNorton, #BruceWillis, #GuguMbathaRaw, #BobbyCannavale, #CherryJones, #DallasRoberts, #MichaelKWilliams, #AlecBaldwin, #WillemDafoe
Release Date: December 6th 2019
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Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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