Motherless Brooklyn

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Edward Norton, writer-director-producer and star of Motherless Brooklyn, fought long and hard for the production of this film-noir based on Jonathan Lethem’s novel of the same name. His tenacity and passion for the project are evident throughout its two hour and twenty-four-minute run time. Motherless Brooklyn will undoubtedly catch flack for its loose interpretation of Lethem’s book, but if viewers can separate the source material from the film (which is incredibly strong on its own) they’ll be able to see the magic and appreciate almost two-decades worth of work from Norton. Motherless Brooklyn is a surprisingly powerful, character-rich criticism of gentrification and the systematic abuse of power that feels uniquely reminiscent of modern-times, despite its 1957 setting.

The film focuses on Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton), a private investigator with Tourette’s Sydrome and a beautiful, busy mind. He poses as a reporter in order to investigate the murder of his mentor and surrogate father Frank Minna (Bruce Willis). Lionel and a handful of other Frank Minna adoptees are left to carry on Minna’s gumshoe business. There is abrasive Tony (Bobby Cannavale), dopy Gilbert (Ethan Suplee) and soft-spoken Danny (Dallas Roberts), each with varying degrees of interest in Minna’s murder. Lionel leads the crusade and finds himself in the midst of racially-charged gentrification and the institutional abuse of power in New York City’s government. It doesn’t take long for Lionel to discover that power broker and master builder Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin) and his seedy business partner William Lieberman (Josh Pais) are responsible for the displacement and destitution of thousands of New York’s working-class minorities.

Moses Randolph’s opposition, led by Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Gabby Horowitz (Cherry Jones), and a slightly manic man named Paul (Willem Dafoe) are outnumbered, out-powered and out-funded. However, they make an alliance with Lionel, who is still masquerading as a reporter. The deeper Lionel goes into finding out the motive and the men responsible for Frank’s murder, the deeper he becomes entwined in the city’s working-class underground. He discovers a love of music, the power of the mind he calls “broken” and takes quite a liking to Laura. The love Lionel lost with Frank’s death isn’t replaced, but transforms into a love for Laura – to whom he eventually comes clean to about his identity.

Motherless Brooklyn covers a lot of ground and gives each important character enough room to breathe and define themselves through action rather than exposition. This is a risky move in today’s action-oriented film space, but it adds to the texture and richness of the plot and those who work to move it forward. Laura Rose is Lionel’s love interest, yes, but that is only a tertiary identity for her. Before she is Lionel’s love interest, she is an activist. She is a woman committed to truly serving her community. She is a devoted niece. She is all of these things and more – in the same ways that Lionel is more than just a “freak” or a gumshoe. He is progressive, he is a little bit traumatized he is brilliant – he is human. The antagonists aren’t as layered. They are bad men who are power hungry and evil…but it feels appropriate. Too long have we given evil men an opportunity to “humanize” themselves. Sometimes bad is just bad.

Motherless Brooklyn isn’t intended to be a mindless watch. It is an engaging social commentary with beautifully human characters trying to stop larger-than-life villains from destroying the city they love under the guise of progress. It is a film to be watched, to be mulled over, to be thought about – then digested. It took nearly two decades for Motherless Brooklyn to be made and it deserves to be in the public’s consciousness for just as long. Motherless Brooklyn is topical, artful and reads as a labor of love. Watch it even if you’re not a fan of period films. Let yourself succumb to immersive storytelling and mystery, even if it’s just for a few hours.