It’s been months since I have reviewed any films. I guess I haven’t really seen anything that I felt needed notice. Summers can be a drag at the movies. Marvel film after Marvel film…..I like them but they but they really don’t need my perspective on them. Just go and enjoy them and forget them.
Fortunately things are picking up at the theaters and I am back seeing two or three a week. I didn’t realize the Edward Norton had directed in the past but here he is writing, directing and starring in “Motherless Brooklyn”.
Edward Norton has a stellar acting resume already. My first recollection of him was his stirring and unsettling performance in “American History X”, for which he earned a Best Actor nomination. He has three additional Best Supporting Actor nominations. We have one thing in common, (and only one), we were both born in Boston! He went on to Yale majoring in History and then aggressively pursued an acting career, landing work at the Signature players in New York who produced the works of Edward Albee.
This film is set in late 50’s New York. Four guys who became friends as kids in an orphanage are private detectives in an agency led by Frank Minna, played by Bruce Willis. A fellow orphan albeit older than the others, he is clearly a father figure to them, especially to Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton). Lionel is smart and a good snoop but he suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome quirks that Norton displays brilliantly.
When one of the four is killed during a job it falls to Lionel to dig into what happened and to get some semblance of revenge.
Norton assembles a terrific cast here to include the amazing Willem Dafoe, wild and crazy Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, and newcomer to me, the beautiful and talented Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She’s the daughter of a black South African doctor and an English Caucasian nurse. She has been widely acclaimed in England for her stage performances including leads in Shakespeare plays and has appeared in numerous television series in the US and elsewhere. There is no question in my mind that we will see a lot more of her in the years ahead.
While not in the league of the classic “Chinatown” this film has a noir feel to it, and although slow at times keeps one’s interest as the onion gets peeled back. Performances are strong across the board and the musical score is fantastic. The gifted Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar in “The Wire”, Chalky White in “Boardwalk Empire”), plays a popular jazz trumpeter. The scenes in a Harlem jazz club are beautiful.
All in all, I heartily recommend this film. It’s a bit long but it’s beautifully filmed, contains top notch performances and it will likely be a springboard to more directorial work for Mr. Norton.
