Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Lionel Essrog	Edward Norton	½
Frank Minna	Bruce Willis
Laura Rose	Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Moses Randolph	Alec Baldwin
Paul Randolph	Willem Dafoe	½
Tony Vermonte	Bobby Cannavale	½
Gabby Horowitz	Cherry Jones	½
Trumpet Man	Michael K. Williams
Julia Minna	Leslie Mann
Gilbert Coney	Ethan Suplee
Danny Fantl	Dallas Roberts
William Lieberman	Josh Pais
Billy Rose	Robert Wisdom
Lou	Fisher Stevens

Review

In what is only his second outing as director (after Keeping the Faith), and first time as writer, Edward Norton demonstrates that he can handle the added responsibility – and give a sensitive performance in front of the camera to boot. Motherless Brooklyn is based on Jonathan Lethem's award-winning novel of the same name about private detectives and corrupt city-planners in New York City, but in Norton's vision the story has been moved to the 1950s and draped in genre-recognizable noir elements. It's a risky strategy, because films in this sub-genre have a tendency to end up as a cliché-fest. Fortunately for Motherless Brooklyn, the filmmakers' craftsmanship overshadows the stereotyping, and the little touches of novelty work wonders for the overall effect. Norton's remarkable, unusual performance is one of them. This is the first time I've seen Tourette syndrome given a believable face in movies. And Norton the actor is accompanied by clever choices also by Norton the producer: Daniel Pemberton's beautiful jazzy score, Dick Pope's atmospheric cinematography, Michael Ahern and Beth Mickle's wonderful art direction, and director Norton's elegant pacing. The star-studded cast add some additional zest, but this is all Norton's show.