MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
Hard-boiled Ed…
Ed Norton directs, writes and stars (and Thom Yorke sings the theme tune).
A20-year labour of love for writer/director/star Edward Norton, this smart, slow-burn ’50s gumshoe mystery digs into New York’s dodgy civic history with relish. Based on Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel about a Tourette’s-afflicted ’tec, Norton’s loner Lionel vows revenge when his boss and mentor Frank (an unflappable Bruce Willis) is murdered after a secret client meeting.
Doggedly piecing together a twisty clue trail running from Harlem jazz joints to the murky workings of City Hall, the film revels in its hardboiled film-noir voiceover, trench-coated thugs and pitch-perfect period settings. It’s shooting for that Chinatown/ L.A. Confidential mix of low-life menace and high-level treachery, and often scores, particularly in scenes with Alec Baldwin’s sinister city planner (modelled on real-life ’50s construction czar Robert Moses).
Stacked with starry supporting players (Willem Dafoe and Bobby Cannavale shine), the script’s need to give them all something meaty to chew on makes the pacing pretty leisurely. As does Norton’s fondness for lengthy plot diversions, or dives into drug-fuelled Harlem bebop.
But a gentle love affair with Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s anti-slumclearance activist benefits from the film’s nervy, thoughtful feel. Best of all, Norton’s central performance is a tender, tic-studded and melancholy marvel, as Lionel harnesses his obsessive nature to unravel the loose threads on the satisfyingly knotty plot. Kate Stables