Motherless Brooklyn

Motherless Brooklyn is a dense mystery that runs for two and a half hours, and is a slow-burn plot that is in no hurry to get to its answers.  In other words, its chances for survival at the box office are next to zero.  That's too bad, because audiences who decide to pass this up will be missing out on a very satisfying story for those who are patient enough to unravel it, and one of the more unforgettable lead characters in a movie this year.

Adapted from the 1999 novel by Jonathan Lethem, this film has been a passion project for Edward Norton, who stars, wrote, produced and directs.  He's been trying to get this film made for nearly 20 years, and clearly fought hard to have control over the project.  Aside from changing the time period of the story (the film is set in the 50s, while the original novel was set in the present day), he has more or less remained faithful to the vision of the original novel.  At only his second time behind the camera (his last time was all the way back in 2000 with Keeping the Faith), Norton shows a real eye for period detail, with rich shadowy colors that match the Noir style of the story he's trying to tell.  He also shows deft skill at keeping a very dialogue-heavy movie flowing smoothly enough so that I never felt that the pacing was getting dragged down.  His passion for this project comes through on the screen.

Most of all, it is his commanding performance that grabs us.  He is Lionel Essrog, and it's a role that a lot of actors probably would have sunk into self-parody in playing, but Norton uses his generous acting talent to bring this unlikely detective hero to life.  Lionel is plagued by involuntary physical tics that cause him to jerk his head, or to blurt out sudden words at random.  He describes it like having pieces of glass in his brain that causes him to say or do things he does not intend to.  It's a condition he's lived with most of his life, but he knows how to calm himself down enough so that it doesn't happen so frequently.  He sometimes just can't help it, however, and this often leads others to pass him off as a "freak", even though he has a photographic memory, as well as a sharply focused mind that can unravel just about any puzzle.

The plot kicks off with the murder of Lionel's friend and mentor, Frank Minna (Bruce Willis, making the most of a cameo role), who was one of the few people who believed in him, and dubbed him "Motherless Brooklyn", due to the fact that he discovered and met Lionel when he was in an orphanage.  Frank's wife (Leslie Mann) does not seem to care much about her husband's death, or about keeping his detective agency running.  She leaves it in the hands of the guys who used to work under Frank.  Lionel, meanwhile, becomes obsessed with unraveling the mystery behind Frank's death.  He was listening in on a phone call before it happened, and he knows that there's something big that Frank was involved in.  The road to the truth will lead him to investigate a shady land and building deal being drummed up by tycoon Robert Moses (Alec Baldwin) that goes much deeper than Lionel even initially expects.

Motherless Brooklyn features a wide and talented cast, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Willem Dafoe, both playing roles that are better off not being spoiled here in how they fit in.  Norton juggles the increasingly complicated narrative and large cast of characters with some invaluable skill, all the while keeping the pace lively.  He also creates a genuine setting and time with a vibe that feels lived in.  In other words, it feels like we're visiting actual bars, apartments and jazz clubs of the era rather than sets.  But, again, it is Norton's performance that truly amazes here.  He manages to make Lionel human beyond the facial tics and random shouting.  We care about him, and we feel a connection with him.  It's not just a gimmick to make the character stand out.  When he narrates the film, we can hear his actual thoughts that are not interrupted by his physical and speech conditions.  Lionel is a man of great intelligence, pain and resilience, and the movie never lets us forget it.

Most of all, this is a mystery that plays fair, and doesn't cop out with easy answers or a shoot-out at the end.  We not only get to see the mystery unravel before Lionel's eyes, but we can see where the answers came from, and it makes sense.  The time and effort that Norton put into this film has paid off with a richly rewarding end result that is smart, at times very funny, and overall satisfying to those who will give it a chance.

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