Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
As soon as the trailer for Motherless Brooklyn dropped people started to look at it with skeptical eyes, from some criticizing the time period switch from the book the film was based on to a bigger conversation around Edward Norton playing a man suffering from Tourette's syndrome despite being an able-bodied actor. This movie had enough questions and concerns around it that out of every major studio film I saw during the 2019 San Diego International Film Festival I went into Motherless Brooklyn with the least amount of hype. Where this seems bad for the film it actually could be a big positive, most of the time when you enter a film with lower expectations it opens the door for the movie to surprise you and end up making you like it more than you normally would. Sadly as I sat through the entire nearly 2 and a half-hour long film I hated it more and more as it went on. This is a film I struggled to get through as it waded on through a boring and bland plot that did absolutely nothing for me creating, unfortunately, one of my least favorite films of the year.
And one of the biggest areas where this film fails is the mystery it tries to build. Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton) is a private detective who has little in the means of family or friends beyond a small close group of guys he works with who have been with him since they all grew up together in an orphanage largely due to him suffering from Tourette's syndrome which makes most put him down and feel ostracized and alone. In what seems like a small gig where he is backing up his friend and the leader of the group named Frank (Bruce Willis) everything goes wrong and Frank ends up getting murdered. Now it is up to Lionel to find out who killed Frank and why these questions lead Lionel into the lion's den of the city quickly getting him over is head in a huge conspiracy involving endless moving pieces and huge players in the ever-expanding New York City. Where this mystery sounds decently interesting as it is spread thin across the 2 and a half hour runtime this movie has it ends up feeling extremely messy and all over the place. This movie does very little to engage the audience into this mystery and it ends up having absolutely no fire behind it. Not only was I continuously lost as the movie went on but I was beyond bored as it goes on for what seems like forever. It goes all over the place trying to bite off way more than it could chew and really failed to build a mystery or conclude it in a satisfying way. The one small positive I have with the plot of the movie is a side plot that explores gentrification. This is a topic not often explored with few exceptions like The Last Black Man in San Francisco earlier this year so not only do I like the idea of the film bringing this up and exploring this very current and modern issue but I thoughts they handled with a surprising amount of effectiveness and craft.
Past that side plot though not only did I fail to get invested in the plot but actively found myself having problems with it and aspects of the film which stood out as problematic for me. The main headline that most will have with the movie is as I mentioned the casting of Edward Norton. Having able-bodied actors play those who suffer from physical disabilities such as Tourette's syndrome is becoming more and more out of fashion and where I am sure there will be numerous think pieces regarding his performance which often contains homophobic and taboo slurs but the main thing that frustrated me about this was how uneeded it was. His character having Tourette's syndrome has little to no impact on the plot and could easily have been taken out. It feels like a cheap device the film is using to add some memorable element to the character and the film overall which was deeply frustrating and confusing. Past Edward Norton though this movie felt quite uncomfortable with its use of race specifically. Having a side of this film is about gentrification which historically has been used as a tool for systematic racism this movie has a strong message warning about racist tactics like this yet to have the main woman fighting for their rights be an old white woman feels like a mistake. At every point, this movie shows whether intentional or not that it is up to white people to fix these issues and that the black community featured in this movie is powerless. It does come off as having an unhealthy white savior complex that felt uncomfortable and unwanted. Also in one of the final scenes in the movie, Lionel has a conversation with a man who abuses his power in a way that rings very true to real-world issues exposed in the #MeToo movement yet instead of condoning this the film has Lionel treat him with a level of respect that feels very off. The movie tries to humanize and make us understand this character in a way that makes it feel like they are pushing these horrific sides of this man to the side and saying that his actions are valid which is really wrong and made me feel like this movie was an overall misfire when it came to the thesis it ended up at.
The few other positives I found with the movie would be first Willem Dafoe who as always is a blessing. Sadly his character is messy and never really finds its footing until the very end but from a performance standpoint, he gives it his all and does give an emotionally strong performance and creates a character you feel for despite not really understanding. The soundtrack and production design do a great job creating the feeling of a rich old school detective mystery despite not having the plot to carry the strength of this setting. I do think though if you are a huge fan of this genre this might be enough for you to end up liking this movie more than you would based on the screenplay and plot alone. Personally I have no deep ties to this genre so despite being able to enjoy the music in the film and the overall style of it the weaker plot still stood out as just being a mess.
Overall I sadly have to say that Motherless Brooklyn was a huge miss for me. This is an absolute mess of a plot and thesis that never really gets going and bites off way more than it could chew. It feels like it goes on forever as you see small things that impress you like the production design, soundtrack, and even some smaller plot elements like gentrification but even with those the film makes questionable choices with where they go with these elements and they get lost in the massive mess of this mystery anyway. Even if you are a fan of old school detective stories I still wouldn't recommend this movie for you, there are not only so many other great movies out in theaters right now that deserve your attention more than this and even if you want a classic detective story with services like the Criterion Channel there is no lack of great films with this style out there for you to watch.
The few other positives I found with the movie would be first Willem Dafoe who as always is a blessing. Sadly his character is messy and never really finds its footing until the very end but from a performance standpoint, he gives it his all and does give an emotionally strong performance and creates a character you feel for despite not really understanding. The soundtrack and production design do a great job creating the feeling of a rich old school detective mystery despite not having the plot to carry the strength of this setting. I do think though if you are a huge fan of this genre this might be enough for you to end up liking this movie more than you would based on the screenplay and plot alone. Personally I have no deep ties to this genre so despite being able to enjoy the music in the film and the overall style of it the weaker plot still stood out as just being a mess.
Overall I sadly have to say that Motherless Brooklyn was a huge miss for me. This is an absolute mess of a plot and thesis that never really gets going and bites off way more than it could chew. It feels like it goes on forever as you see small things that impress you like the production design, soundtrack, and even some smaller plot elements like gentrification but even with those the film makes questionable choices with where they go with these elements and they get lost in the massive mess of this mystery anyway. Even if you are a fan of old school detective stories I still wouldn't recommend this movie for you, there are not only so many other great movies out in theaters right now that deserve your attention more than this and even if you want a classic detective story with services like the Criterion Channel there is no lack of great films with this style out there for you to watch.