Edward Norton is one of those guys who you most likely never want to meet in person, but you're usually excited to see his work. Though he is a talented actor and director who has put together some of the most notable works (American History X, Fight Club, and Keeping The Faith, to name a few), he also has a bad reputation as an assertive (though often beneficial) interloper. For example, with American History X, Mr. Norton hijacked the editing room and recut the whole film to the way it is now. So while he changed the movie in a less-than-professional fashion, it still came out as the memorable classic we know it as. He is a living example of the phrase "never meet your heroes."
So naturally, even though I've never been a fan of Norton's artistic practices, I have usually enjoyed the work he puts out. However, when I got wind of his latest outing, Motherless Brooklyn, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, a modern take on classic 1950's noir detective stories about a private-eye with a mental affliction, and it's written, directed, produced, and starring the same guy who was fired from playing The Incredible Hulk because he kept changing the script? This had "Oscar Bait" written all over it, and it made me cautious about even trying it. However, having exhausted all other new pieces that piqued my interest this month, I decided to hunker down and finally give it a look. Much to my satisfaction, it was as good as I suspected. Even more satisfying, despite all the warning signs of pretentious ego-stroking, it is pleasantly absent from the final product. This maybe Edward Norton's show, and he may be a bit of an egotistical jerk, but at least he knows how to make a damn good movie.
Set in 1950s New York, the story follows a private detective named Lionel (Edward Norton), who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, which causes him uncontrollable twitches, fits of OCD (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder), and a little bit of anxiety. It also grants him perfect memory and extensive attention to detail, which makes him an excellent detective. One day, his boss and mentor, Frank (Bruce Willis), is killed while working on a case. To avenge his friend, Lionel takes on the matter of his murder. He starts with trying to figure out what Frank got himself into, as he was initially kept in the dark. His only real clue is that it somehow ties with a mysterious woman named Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). With his continuously active mind, Lionel will uncover a series of secrets that may determine the fate of the whole city.
As I said, my main concern with this film was that it was going to be over two hours of a Hollywood interloper stroking his ego. Much to my relief, that is not the case. Motherless Brooklyn proves itself to be a well-done film. Complete with sympathetic characters, an intriguing mystery, and convincing performances from the whole cast. Probably the only nitpick I have is the use of voice-over where visuals could have easily been used. Even so, the voice-over is in-line with classic film-noir detective stories, and unlike the theatrical cut of Blade Runner, it is never used unnecessarily. As in, our hero never narrates about the room he's in. Also, it's not used throughout the entire film.
If you're looking for a decent mystery thriller, this is a good one to check out. At the time of this writing, it is available on a couple of streaming platforms, including Comcast, Amazon, and iTunes. It is available on Netflix but only on disk and not on its streaming catalog, at least not yet.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment