Ed Norton's performance in Motherless Brooklyn brings to mind his roles in Primal Fear and The Score. In those earlier films, he portrayed a killer disguised as someone with a speech impediment, and a thief pretending to have a mental disability; here, he plays Lionel Essrog, a private investigator living with Tourette’s syndrome. The significant difference is that Lionel genuinely experiences Tourette's, unlike t…

Ed Norton's performance in Motherless Brooklyn brings to mind his roles in Primal Fear and The Score. In those films, he portrayed a killer feigning a stutter and a thief pretending to have a mental disability; here, he plays Lionel Essrog, a private investigator living with Tourette’s syndrome. The significant difference lies in the fact that Lionel genuinely experiences Tourette's, unlike the deceptive performan…

Trying to maintain the rhythm of a noir film for today's viewers is challenging, and the two and a half hours certainly show. While the narrative itself holds interest and the connections to contemporary America are appreciated, there isn’t sufficient contrast to offset all of the dark atmosphere. The storyline leans toward complexity, and given that it centers on piecing together clues, one might expect 'Motherless …

The film boasts impressive visuals and strong performances, but suffers from sluggish pacing. I’m reminded of a quote by Robert Moses, who once defended his actions with the sentiment that one could build without displacing people or cook an omelet without breaking eggs. Jonathan Lethem's novel *Motherless Brooklyn* appears to be a classic private-eye noir, but it delves into gentrification, institutionalized …