Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

Directed by Edward Norton. Starring Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Willem Dafoe, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin, Cherry Jones, Dallas Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Michael K. Williams, Bruce Willis, Josh Pais, Leslie Mann, Robert Wisdom, Fisher Stevens. [R]

Frustrating mystery-noir was a passion project of Norton’s (in development for the better part of a decade), and the results mute much of the script’s underlying anger while the writer/director tries to build a glazed atmosphere of melancholy and regret. A memory specialist working for a detective agency, Norton’s dogged snoop suffers from both Tourette’s syndrome and an undying fixation on uncovering the reason behind his boss’ murder, an investigation that takes him through various halls of power and smoke-stained offices, housing deal scandals and parentage cover-ups, dingy apartment blocks and shadowy jazz clubs. But the passion that Norton felt for the material isn’t reflected in the filmmaking, which suffers from a languid pace begging for a kick in the pants every once in a while, and an unengrossing mystery that gradually loses its luster the more tangled and misdirected it becomes. Even with the distraction of his character’s showy tics, Norton gives a reliable performance, though it’s hard not to notice how his affliction all but vanishes for long stretches in the final act to allow for dramatic conversations and monologues to go uninterrupted. Noteworthy plaudit: Daniel Pemberton’s moody score and an eerily beautiful contribution from Thom Yorke (“Daily Battles”). Adapted from the Jonathan Lethem novel, which has a contemporary setting, but Norton decided to set this Brooklyn tale in the 1950s.

56/100