3 stars out of 5
I’ve read one Jonathan Lethem novel, Fortress of Solitude, and my reaction was, “Eh, it’s OK.” Now I’ve also seen one movie based on a different Lethem novel, and I’m feeling the same way.
I did hear that Edward Norton took many liberties with the book, so those guys can share the blame if they like. Norton has always seemed like a good dude to me, kind of an intellectual Andrew McCarthy, and a very strong actor. But this is clearly a passion project for him and that is often a real red flag. Norton wrote, directed, and stars in this film. He’s only directed once before (the likably lightweight Keeping the Faith back in 2000) and this is his first screenplay. The sweet fella seems a bit out of his depth.
Ah, but he plays the lead role, a 1950s gumshoe with Tourette’s. Norton does a solid job and doesn’t go “full R” but I couldn’t shake the suspicion that, with all that twitching and blurting, he’s ultimately just Oscar-chasing. I guess Norton called in some favors and cast quality actors Alec Baldwin (a character based on real-life power-mad NYC commissioner Robert Moses, and in case you didn’t get that, his name here is Moses Randolph — clever!!), Bruce Willis, Bobby Cannavale, Willem Dafoe, and the reliably great Cherry Jones. Then his favors ran out so we also get the brother from My Name Is Earl, Omar from The Wire, and Fisher Stevens (!) with a performance so wussified I honestly thought it was Mike Birbiglia. The female lead is Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who does good work here and her name is really fun to say.
But let’s take Baldwin as a case study. I saw a promotional interview in which Norton gushed about getting to see Baldwin in a dramatic role again. Ah, but here’s the rub: Norton doesn’t have the directorial chops to coax a truly powerful performance out of Baldwin. And this unfortunately carries over to the rest of the film: It’s a noir gangster genre exercise — power, corruption, REVENGE — looks suitably old-timey, and it’s competent but not much more. It feels like they’re playing dress-up. And I’m not even going to mention the scene where Norton compares Tourette’s to jazz.
I just wish a more experienced director with a stronger cast could make a period-piece crime epic to show Edward Norton how it’s truly done. Oh wait a minute….
Jack Silbert, curator