Motherless Brooklyn leads us through 1950's New York and is also told in a voice reflecting that place and time. An all-star cast is not wasted on a more artistic than modern take on an underdog trying to break through various challenges to solve the mystery surrounding the death of his boss and only friend.
Starring, written, produced, and directed by Edward Norton (Keeping the Faith) this labor of love pays homage to the 1999 novel Motherless Brooklyn by author Jonathan Lethem. More faithful to the spirit of the novel than the text, Norton nuances his performance in sensitively portraying Lionel Essrog, a man suffering from Tourette's Syndrome, a condition that for him involves both physical tics, as well as an inability to not say certain things out loud-including vulgarities. His disability causes people to not take him seriously, and for much of his early life, it defines the lonely nature of his character.
Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) sees this weakness as a possible strength and recognizes the sharp, puzzle-solving mind underneath the tics. He recruits Lionel to become an undercover detective for his agency, but his own career is cut short when he's murdered in broad daylight, leaving only Lionel to care of solving the mystery behind his death.
Lionel goes on sparse clues, befriending Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) a lawyer who's obsessed with making the world a better place, even if it means sticking her nose in the business of powerful and dangerous people like Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin), a wealthy mastermind behind the scenes.
Slower paced, like an old-time crime drama, the set design makes it look like an authentic, dated New York City. Motherless Brooklyn transports us into a jazz music fueled era, which is deftly captured by the art-focused cinematography.
While the film itself is not disjointed, it does explore characters and situations that have no payoffs, which is a rarity for modern films. In this case, that works because it keeps your mind spinning as you try to keep up with the grand mystery that's presented. The slow, reflective beats allow an opportunity to catch up while more world-building story is presented.
One major conflict in Motherless Brooklyn as well as any film with a mentally or physically challenged character is that there's a fine line in representing that character with compassion and using their disability as the comic relief. There are obvious and intentional serious moments that are broken up with a laugh at the expense of Lionel's disability, but there are also moments where the challenge is directly addressed and shown that it can be used as a strength.
Ultimately, the pace of Motherless Brooklyn is slow enough to be enjoyable for fans of older-style movies that focus on characters and details, like the gorgeous set-pieces and costuming; while more modern fans of ultra-violence and action-packed fight scenes, and car chase sequences may be let down.