Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

Review

144min

Genre:       Crime, Drama, Mystery

Director:    Edward Norton

Cast:         Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin…and more

Writers:     Edward Norton and Jonathan Lethem

-Synopsis-

When his friend and mentor is brutally murdered on the streets of 1950’s New York, a solitary private detective with Tourette’s Syndrome and an obsessive mind determined to solve the mystery gets on the case, only to stumble upon a conspiracy which reaches the dirty heights of power in the city—in this adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel from actor-turned-director Edward Norton.

They say the best way to learn how to do something is to do it, but closely observing those who do it exceedingly well probably comes a close second. So after years of working with the likes of Milos Forman, David Fincher, Spike Lee and Wes Anderson to name but a few, honing his acting craft and absorbing the smorgasbord of filmmaking talent around him, acclaimed actor Norton follows up his breezy directorial debut ‘Keeping the Faith’ with nearly two decades of further filmmaking experience to deliver something a little heavier—directing, starring in and adapting Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel to bring us his stylish sunlit take on classic detective noir, and a meditation on power and corruption . . . inspired by little-known US history.

Norton stars as 1950s private eye ‘Lionel Essrog’, a New York gumshoe with Tourette’s syndrome and nervous ticks but a sharp obsessive mind and eidetic memory, raised on the streets of Brooklyn by his boss and mentor ‘Frank Minna’ (Bruce Willis), along with fellow detectives like ‘Tony Vermonte’ (Bobby Cannavale). But when Minna is gunned down whilst on a job for some shifty individuals, Lionel is compelled to pull on a case thread with leads up to the city’s powerful developer and politician ‘Moses Randolph’ (Alec Baldwin), as the mystery drags in disgruntled civic engineer with a past ‘Paul’ (Willem Dafoe), and unsuspecting young community organiser ‘Laura Rose’ (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)—whom Lionel must protect as he zeroes in on the uncomfortable and dangerous truth.

Western history, and particularly that of the US, is littered with powerful figures who straddled politics and industry and shaped cities and towns, affecting the lives of their citizens for both the better and worse—and heavily inspired by the true story of influential and controversial New York city planner Robert Moses, Norton creates a formidable and fearsome one here, around which the entire story ultimately revolves. And in Alec Baldwin he has the perfect man for the job, as the larger-than-life star lends his charisma and intensity to a frosty figure whose lust for power and legacy erases any hint of civic duty or care for the community, a ruthless developer who moonlights as a city official with more titles than can be remembered, the true power at the top of murky New York city politics.

But Baldwin is hardly the only star in an impressive cast wrangled on a tight budget by Norton, which indicates the respect that he commands as an actor and a filmmaker, a reputation which he only adds to with the film’s sterling and humanistic central performance as the broken but brilliant private eye with Tourette’s, whose obsessive compulsive behaviour and noble heart keep him on the case—and whose nervous ticks and involuntary quirks make for unexpectedly awkward and comical moments, adding charm to the character and leaving you rooting for him throughout.

The director’s performance is made all the more impressive considering the demand on his time as the film’s writer, producer and director, but the load of his labour of love is also shouldered by solid performances by the likes of veterans Willem Dafoe and Bruce Willis, and another impressive turn from British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw as yet another completely convincing American.

All of them help to make Norton’s vision and its departure from the source novel a reality, as he takes the opportunity to make a period picture with all its intricacies and challenges by setting this sleuth story in the late 1950s instead of the novel’s 90s setting—leaning on the talents of his production designers and veteran cinematographer Dick Pope (The Illusionist, Mr. Turner) to stylishly deliver post war New York city on the biggest of canvases. The film’s considerable circle of style and atmosphere is completed by the notable classic jazz-heavy score from Daniel Pemberton (Steve Jobs, Yesterday), which not only adds mood but also plays a major part in the narrative—combined with an original ballad from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and RHCP’s Flea as the theme, plus Norton’s narration which underline the film’s style credentials as classic detective flick.

Yet Norton’s period-set modern ode to Golden Age Hollywood noire—which has shades of everything from classic Bogart conspiracy mysteries to the film’s they inspired like ‘Chinatown’ and ‘L.A. Confidential’—is as much a deliberately socio-politically layered affair as it is a genuine detective mystery, if not more. Norton uses the period context to deliver a historical yet timeless meditation on corruption and power, gentrification, race and class, cultural cleansing and social engineering—all under the umbrella of capitalism during the American boom—while weaving it into the fabric of New York city history. It also confronts the audience with the uncomfortable notion that it takes a man like Randolph (or his inspiration Moses) to get things done in a city of this size and complexity, or it could just be a convenient justification for his questionable self-serving actions . . . you be the judge.

All told the ingredients here do add up to a pretty sleek and reasonably ambitious detective drama, but ultimately Norton’s effort stumbles where it most matters—the narrative and the plot. As the film heads into the all important third act, the mystery element begins to sputter and wane, leading towards an anticlimactic big reveal and underwhelming conclusion which ultimately unmasks ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ as a socially conscious outsider character portrait with an unconvincing romance—rather than a genuine intricate and meandering mystery—while undermining its credentials as a crime tale. And although there’s enough good work done to make you care about the characters’ fates, it will also leave you questioning whether the whole journey was worth it.

And yet there’s plenty for Edward Norton to crow about here, and whatever his sophomore effort lacks in story and suspense, it makes up for with style and substance, delivering a workmanlike mystery but a solid period drama which pulls you in, re-igniting a directorial career for a fledgling filmmaker with a well established name.

The Bottom Line…

Captivating as a moody period character tale but slightly lacklustre as a neo-noir mystery, ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ may stumble slightly in the plot stakes and its third act, but it makes up for it with an excess of style, cinematic craftsmanship, and plenty to say about the world in which we used to live . . . and to some extent still do today.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Chinatown (1974)

A private investigator in 1930s Los Angeles is hired to follow an influential city engineer only to find himself in a middle of a murky murder, as he crosses paths with a host of shifty characters and a mysterious woman, on the way to unravelling a real-estate conspiracy which stretches to the top if city politics and power.

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston among others.

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