Shady tale
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN ★★★ (Cert 15, 144mins)
THE passion project from Edward Norton, the actor-turned-writer director, boasts a great cast, a thumping score, gorgeous cinematography and a very clever premise. It’s just a shame he couldn’t tie all the pieces together with a compelling story.
Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel, which Norton has been trying to bring to the screen almost since the day it was published, was set in the 1990s but here the jazzy soundtrack and the smoky cinematography take us to 1950s New York.
There we find lonely private detective Lionel Essrog (Norton) in a vintage car along with fellow gumshoe Gilbert (Ethan Suplee). They are shadowing their boss Frank Minna (BruceWillis) to a meeting in an apartment building.
Every private eye needs a flaw and Lionel has a very unusual one – he suffers from uncontrollable twitches and outbursts which would now lead to a diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome. He also has a photographic memory which has helped him become a vital member of the agency.
From a phone box across the street, Lionel calls Frank in the apartment. Frank picks up the phone and lays the receiver down so his favourite employee can listen in.Then some sinister men in sharp suits arrive to meet Frank. By the time Frank has been shot dead after a mysterious argument, Lionel has memorised a string of names and places.
These cryptic clues lead him to a conspiracy involving disgruntled architect (Willem Dafoe), a corrupt politician (Alec Baldwin), Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s activist lawyer and Michael KWilliams’ jazz trumpeter.
Sadly, this is the only time Lionel’s memory comes into play. Nor does his Tourette’s feature as heavily as you’d expect. His condition could, like Columbo’s dirty raincoat, lead criminals to fatally underestimate him. It could also give viewers access to what he’s thinking, powering the story, creating suspense and causing occasional moments of black comedy. But frustratingly, he mostly keeps it under control as the conspiracy begins to unravel.
Precisely what is unravelling
isn’t always apparent. This is a murky story and not all the scenes seem designed to move it on.
And as Lionel doesn’t seem to live up to his billing as New York’s smartest detective, we’re never entirely sure he’s on top of things.
After a promising opening, Norton’s passion project becomes a bit of a chore.