Movie · 2019 · Drama, Thriller · 2h 25m · R · English
Curator score: 2.9/10 (67.4K ratings)
Overview
New York City, 1957. Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, tries to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend, armed only with vague clues and the strength of his obsessive mind.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.9/10
IMDb: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: 60
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Edward Norton
Production
Class 5 Films, MWM Studios
Cast
Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Leslie Mann, Ethan Suplee, Dallas Roberts, Josh Pais, Robert Wisdom, Fisher Stevens, Radu Spinghel, Peter Gray Lewis, Isaiah J. Thompson, Russell Hall, Joe Farnsworth, Jerry Weldon
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious, old-school noir that has real atmosphere, a strong central performance, and a compelling New York setting, but it’s also overlong, self-important, and unevenly assembled. The mystery and social critique never quite click into a satisfying whole.
Best for
Viewers who like brooding neo-noir and period New York stories
Fans of character-driven detective dramas
People interested in unusual lead performances and offbeat screen acting
Audiences who don’t mind a messy but earnest prestige project
Skip if
You want a tight, propulsive mystery
You’re sensitive to bloated runtimes
You prefer sleek, polished filmmaking over conspicuous style
You’re looking for a thriller with a clean payoff
Overview
Motherless Brooklyn is the kind of passion project that wears its ambition on its sleeve. Edward Norton builds a 1950s New York detective story around a private eye with Tourette syndrome, and the result has enough smoke, shadow, and civic corruption to satisfy noir fans at first glance. The period detail and sense of place are often the film’s best assets, giving the story a lived-in, melancholy texture.
Worth noting
The problem is that the movie keeps reaching for significance without always earning it. It’s overextended, occasionally clumsy, and more interested in mood, speeches, and big ideas about power than in the mechanics of a truly gripping mystery. Still, Norton’s performance is committed, and the supporting cast helps keep the film watchable even when the plotting starts to sag.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a flawed but sincere throwback, there’s enough here to admire. If you want a noir that snaps into place with precision, this one is more likely to drift than detonate.
Top Letterboxd reviews
davidehrlich (2★) · 892 likes
New York's hottest mess is MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. it's got everything: Edward Norton *completely* off the chain, Alec Baldwin as Mobert Roses, Willem Dafriend, inexplicably plastic digital cinematography, a 407-minute running time… and a pretty good new Thom Yorke song!
Josh Lewis (1★) · 354 likes
my TIFF19 review for The Film Stage:
Few films come out in any given year with creative choices as baffling as the ones made by Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn. The story goes that when the novel came out in 1999 Norton was instantly struck by Jonathan Lethem’s acclaimed gumshoe neo-noir about a private detective suffering with Tourette Syndrome and began developing the project by as early as 2002. This was a huge period for Norton, having only just burst onto… more
@Mr. Like🔥🔥🔥 (3★) · 243 likes
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%Metacritic Metascore: 60
69/100
2019 Ranked
Lionel Essrog: "Fuckin' mess is right. The nun said my soul wasn't at peace with God, and I should do penance. Frank said anyone teaching God's love while they hit you with a stick should be ignored on every subject."
Honorable mention: "....TITS ON A TUESDAY...I'm sorry."
Motherless Brooklyn is a modern film Noir about a troubled man seeking answers. Set against the backdrop of 1950s New York, the film follows… more
matt lynch (3★) · 240 likes
Ed Norton with Tourette's isn't quite as good as a cartoon rabbit but this was still pretty ok.
shookone (4.5★) · 225 likes
sometimes Letterbox sucks big time. having highly questionable stuff like Jojo Rabbit coming in at 4.0, or a mainstream trashfest like Good Will Hunting cracking the Top 250 feels like a bad joke for itself already. now having virtually half of the first 50 reviews for a movie like Motherless Brooklyn filled with Twitter cracking one-liners - one excelling the next in fashionable witty cynicism - doesn't look to good either, especially in contrast.
and yet the Edward Norton helmed… more
2000 · Mystery, Thriller · 1h 53m · R · Curator 9.1/10 (3.2M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
For audiences who like fractured mysteries driven by obsession and damaged memory.