Motherless Brooklyn: Mystery, Suspense Done Right

Movie Review: Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
Version: Library DVD

Frank, Lionel, Tony, and some other guys grew up together in an orphanage and when they grew up, Frank looked after them. He started a detective agency and gave them all jobs. Frank (Bruce Willis) especially looked after Lionel (Edward Norton), who had a pronounced case of Tourette's Syndrome. They got along fine until one day Frank ran into a juicy case that got him killed, and Lionel became determined to solve the murder of his only real friend. That's the main plot behind Motherless Brooklyn, a steely, gritty, suspenseful mystery done up in the film noir style by also producer, writer, and director Edward Norton.

Also features superb performances by Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Laura, the dame who always figures in a classic film noir, Alec Baldwin as Moses Randolph, the powerful big-city boss who clashes with the hero, Bobby Cannavale as Tony, one of the guys who we think is Lionel's ally, and Willem Dafoe as Paul, the guy operating in the shadows. Norton also puts in a fine performance, but I can't help but wonder if it would have been better if he had cut back on the Tourette's some. It seems a bit too put on, in the same way Dustin Hoffman's disabilities were seen as too put on in Rain Man (1988). Norton's Lionel apologizes throughout the story for his outbursts, but they seem robotic and I don't buy it. They just don't seem sincere. Nice try, though. Still, the film is a good mixture of mystery and suspense. Baldwin seethes with power and anger and danger. Dafoe sneaks around like a seedy little mouse that makes you want to squash him. Great cast!

If this film had been made in the heyday of film noir, it would have been produced in black and white; it would have been very dark and shot in stark night scenes. This was, of course, shot in color but in drab day tones and in seedy 1950s settings. You get this dank, musty, dangerous feel with each frame, and that's the way it should be. Kudos for the atmosphere.

On the whole, while I'm not a fan of film noir, I came to be a fan of Motherless Brooklyn. Norton done me right by it. He will do you right by it, too.

Ferdinand: A Fun Upgrade of a Classic Cartoon Well Told for a Modern Age

Movie Review: Ferdinand (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Ferdinand, the 2017 animated film about the pacifist bull with a love for flowers, was once a Disney cartoon. In this updated version by 20th Century Fox, the basic story line is the same but the narrative arc is extended and the characters are more robust and far more interesting. Sort of as the saying goes, this isn't your Grandma's Ferdinand -- it's been beefed up for the modern age.

In this version, Ferdinand the bull begins as a young calf surrounded by other calves at a Spanish bull-training camp. Spain's greatest matador, El Primero, picks his bulls for the bull ring from this academy (Casa del Toro), and when it comes to light that the bulls he picks never return after their day of glory, Ferdinand decides this isn't the life for him. He escapes and ends up on the flower farm of young Nana, who raises him as her pet, fortunately in his favorite venue, in fields full of fragrant flowers. But Ferdinand eventually grows into a full-size bull, and one day he disobeys Nana and her father and comes into town for the flower festival, where a bee pokes Ferdinand, sending him into a rage. Ferdinand is captured and wisked back to Casa del Toro, where he is finally picked by El Primero to fight his final battle in the bull ring. But the fight doesn't go as El Primero or Ferdinand or the crowd expect, setting up a battle royale with unexpected consequences.

There is a fun cast of new characters like Lupe the goat (played by Kate McKinnon), who trains Ferdinand (played by John Cena) for the bull ring. Then there's Angus, a Scottish bull (played by David Tennant) and Bones (played by Anthony Anderson) a skinny runt of a bull, totally never going to be picked by a matador but interesting foils for Ferdinand and his antagonist and competitor for selection by El Primero, Valiente (played by Bobby Cannavale). Adorable Nana is played by Lily Day. Together, these characters help Ferdinand navigate his uncertain life as a bull against stereotype and support his final struggle when he is forced to battle his worst nightmare, the battle for his life.

There isn't much amazing about the animation or the artwork here. It's all story and characters. Ferdinand is mostly a story for kids, although parents can enjoy it, too. One scene adults can enjoy is a take off on the cliche "bull in a china shop", in which Ferdinand accidentally finds himself inside an actual china shop. It's handled with a lot of fun. I'm not sure kids will get the "inside joke" as easily as their parents will.

Should you see Ferdinand? By all means! It's a fun upgrade of a classic cartoon, well told and well shown for a modern age.