Motherless Brooklyn
Warner Bros. | Release Date: November 1, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film ThreatAlan NgOct 31, 2019
I haven’t seen a crime thriller this good since L.A. Confidential. Read full review
85
TheWrapSasha StoneSep 4, 2019
As Motherless Brooklyn reaches back in time to explore racism and New York City’s history, it also brings us urgently back to right now — how we look at politics and leadership, what offenses we’re willing to accept, what ideals are still worth fighting for. Read full review
83
Original-CinJim SlotekSep 9, 2019
Motherless Brooklyn is the sort of risk-taking effort that deserves kudos whether it works or not. As it happens, this lengthy film-noir labour of love by writer, director and star Edward Norton, is well worth the ride. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 30, 2019
It’s Norton’s own performance that brings emotional connection to Motherless Brooklyn. Always a consummate actor, with Oscar nominations for "Primal Fear," "American History X" and "Birdman" — he deserved another for "Fight Club" — Norton is at his very best as Lionel, seeing beyond the tics to the things that make him human. Read full review
75
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Nov 12, 2019
Motherless Brooklyn is far from an airtight masterwork like Confidential—it’s too bloated at almost two and a half hours and contains some acting choices that borderline on irritating—but for those looking for a neo-noir that goes down as harshly yet as satisfyingly as Sam Spade’s favorite Bacardi, it’ll deliver. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 31, 2019
Motherless Brooklyn isn’t in the same league as obvious influences such as “The Maltese Falcon” and “Chinatown,” but it’s an effective mood piece and a worthy entry in the genre. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOct 31, 2019
The most surprising thing about director/writer/star Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn is how drastically it departs from its source. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshOct 31, 2019
This is a solid and enjoyable mystery flick, but through all the twists, turns, tics and twitches Motherless Brooklyn works hard to impart its message. And what ultimately comes out is somewhat hollow. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartOct 30, 2019
Norton does a humanizing job of explaining Lionel’s unusual brain (he’s got a near-perfect memory) and defusing his outbursts with self-deprecation and humor. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerOct 28, 2019
This passion project also lets Norton indulge in the kind of tic-heavy acting challenge he embraced early in his career. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 6, 2019
If it all sometimes feels trapped in the amber of his intentions, Brooklyn still casts a quiet sort of spell: a meticulously, lovingly made mood piece, full of empathy for the ones who can’t speak — at least not always the way they want to — for themselves. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelOct 31, 2019
Even if the big thematic statements are less than subtle, the story is solid and thought-provoking, and the performances are just stylized enough to match the intensity of Norton’s deep-dive performance. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 10, 2019
Lionel’s mannerisms could have gotten obnoxious in a hurry, but Norton calibrates the performance so that the character remains unpredictable without becoming unbearable. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOct 30, 2019
If the screenplay pulls at threads that don’t always pay off, the actors and the thoughtful cinematography of veteran Dick Pope always ensure that there’s something engaging to watch onscreen. A sequence set in the jazz club, during which the jumpy music and Lionel’s mental and physical state merge into an intuitive singularity, is a real standout. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnSep 10, 2019
Despite some pacing troubles and myriad undeveloped characters, Motherless Brooklyn functions well enough as a throwback to the intelligent, atmospheric studio private investigator dramas to which it tips a velvety fedora, and shows evidence that this dormant genre still has legs. Read full review
66
IGNChris TillyOct 31, 2019
The period setting is sumptuous, and Edward Norton brings true humanity to the role of Lionel Essrog. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyNov 1, 2019
What’s best about the movie is mood and texture, and the ensemble cast (the second best thing about the movie) mostly defers to those qualities. In that sense, Motherless Brooklyn might be described as novelistic, and in a good way. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleOct 31, 2019
Motherless Brooklyn is done well enough that you wish it had struck out on its own path, rather than crib from Robert Towne and Roman Polanski. It’s hard to forget it, but that’s “Chinatown.” Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerOct 31, 2019
What should have been the trickiest parts of this enterprise – elucidating the warm relationship between Essrog (Norton) and Minna (Bruce Willis), and Essrog’s Tourette syndrome – Norton handles with aplomb. The rest is a murky mess, unnecessarily dense and confusing for two hours, and then in the last 20 minutes, way too obvious. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 30, 2019
Norton, who wrote and directed Motherless Brooklyn, does his best to imitate the genre’s snappy dialogue and clever red herrings; but what starts out as a mystery as intelligent as it is intriguing winds up being over-plotted didactic. Read full review
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