Motherless Brooklyn
No matter how well made Motherless Brooklyn is, its brutal pacing and meandering feel like the results of too much dedication and care. At nearly two and a half hours, Motherless Brooklyn feels like a three hour adventure, and not in the good way. Edward Norton is known for being a perfectionist with all of the films he stars in. When it comes to his filmmaking efforts, we have Keeping the Faith (a decent rom-com), and now this project, which Norton has been eyeballing for decades. He took his time to shift Jonathan Lethem’s novel from the present (well, the late ‘90s, when the novel was written) to the ‘50s, in order to make a more authentic noir feel. Plus, the film’s conversations about bigotry and profiled injustice fit this era better.
With this message of the undermined deserving the right to be heard, amidst all of the plotted killings, political scuffles, and mystery solving, Motherless Brooklyn becomes a bit of a mind boggling chore. You can tell Norton loves exploring each and every avenue of Lethem’s source material (who doesn’t?), but that doesn’t bode well for viewers. Norton was also clearly inspired by the best neo noir films, including Chinatown and L.A. Confidential, where an entire city is in on the conspiracy, and ready to eat its own civilians whole. As Motherless Brooklyn wraps up, it becomes much more exciting, seeing all of these separate threads get tied together. For the entire mid section, though, you’re in for a slow burn.
Lionel on a case.
There are all of the makings of a killer neo noir here. Norton slays as detective Lionel Essrog; he fights through his Tourette syndrome in every conversation, and Norton plays this battle off naturally, as well as turning his tracking into the film’s more interesting aspects during the boring bits. Daniel Pemberton’s much-beloved score is acclaimed for good reason. It truly is the saving grace for most of the weaker moments, providing a ‘50s jazz scene pulse to the scenes of wandering around New York City. We also have a well-fitted original track by Thom Yorke (“Daily Battles”), that will remain in your head when the film takes a nosedive in the second act. All of the familiar faces (Bruce Willis, Willem Dafoe, Leslie Mann, etc.) make brief— yet impactful — appearances, so they don’t feel wasted. Motherless Brooklyn isn’t terrible. It’s just smothered by a filmmaker that really wanted this to work perfectly.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.