Motherless Brooklyn – Film Review

Motherless Brooklyn

GPA: 2.9/4.0

In 1950s New York, a private detective with Tourette’s syndrome named Lionel Essrog tries to solve the murder of his friend.

The trailer for this movie looked intriguing, and what caught my eye was that the main character had Tourette’s syndrome.  How well executed was that?  Pretty well, and the actual movie itself was for the most part pretty good.

The 1950s Feel with the Production/Costume Design:

Easily one of the movie’s strongest points was the 1950s aesthetic.  Despite the film being shot digitally rather than on film, it still felt that it took place in this time period.  The production design was stellar from start to finish, and the costume design was also great.

The Performances:

This movie had a big A-list cast, and not surprisingly the performances were very good.  Edward Norton did a convincing job as a character with Tourette’s syndrome.  The performances from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Willem Dafoe, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin, and Bruce Willis were all really solid.

The Handing of Tourette’s Syndrome:

When I’ve first heard about the main character having Tourette’s syndrome, I was curious but nervous about seeing how this was going to be portrayed.  It was done in a way that didn’t feel manipulative or disrespectful, but rather realistic.

The Cinematography:

Dick Pope was the director of photography of this movie, and this was a nice presentation.  It looked neat and the lighting was pretty good, and this was a well-shot feature.

Daniel Pemberton’s Music:

Daniel Pemberton’s music score was fitting to the 1950s setting and the tone.  The music at times reminded me of music from the video game L.A. Noire.  This was easily one of the better music compositions from Pemberton along with his score from Steve Jobs.

Pacing and Runtime:

The movie was about 2 hours and 24 minutes, and this was a slower paced movie.  Unfortunately, the slower pace didn’t always work for this movie.  This was more of a situation in which there were a few side plots that could have been shaved off.

Side Stories:

While the main story was quite compelling, some of its side stories weren’t as intriguing.  They did tie into the actual story, but several of them were sometimes a little dull.  The side plot involving Alec Baldwin’s Moses Randolph character felt unnecessary until the end.

Most Characters:

Most of the characters weren’t particularly compelling except for Lionel Essrog.  Willem Dafoe’s Paul Randolph was one of the better characters for sure, along with Mbatha-Raw’s character named Laura Rose.

Overall, Motherless Brooklyn was a flawed yet compelling movie with top-notch production design and great acting.