“If!”

From Motherless Brooklyn.

While Lionel’s (Edward Norton) Tourette Syndrome is an annoyance for most, his impeccable memory made him the perfect employee for private eye Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) who took him under his wing and gave him a job years ago.  However, when a job goes badly and Frank is killed by the people who hired him, Lionel and his coworkers (Bobby Cannavale, Dallas Roberts, and Ethan Suplee) are left wondering what happened, but none are so desperate to solve the mystery as Lionel.  Unable to find much evidence connected to Frank’s death, Lionel decides to take the few clues that he heard Frank mention about a woman, Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), connected with the City Housing Bureau to see if it’s connected to Frank’s murder.  Lionel begins following the woman and finds his investigation going in an unexpected direction; he also finds more and more information on the new mayor (Peter Lewis) and two of his city chairmen William Lieberman (Josh Pais) and Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin).  Posing as a reporter, Lionel finds himself being drawn to both the mystery of Laura and the mystery of Frank’s investigation. Things are further complicated by mysterious information provided by the disheveled Paul (Willem Dafoe) who is more than ready to provide Lionel information on the powerful Randolph.  Running from goons (Radu Spinghel and Fisher Stevens) that want the information Frank was supposed to give them, Lionel is pulled deeper into a maze of wicked officials and life-threatening choices.

This thriller manages to create a story that is captivating and surprising. While the entire cast brings their characters to life, Norton is brilliant in his portrayal of a man with Tourette Syndrome. Based on the book of the same name, the movie follows an interesting mystery through an almost noir-feeling world. A bit slow to start, Motherless Brooklyn is an addictive mystery that will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

| Rated: R | Running Time: 144 minutes |Genre: drama/thriller |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 7* of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 3 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|