• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Film
  • DVD
  • Editorial
  • About ScreenFish

ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • News
  • OtherFish
  • Podcast
  • Give

Bobby Cannavale

Motherless Brooklyn: Pulling at the Thread of Power

October 31, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Directed and adapted for the screen by Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn tells the story of Lionel Essrog (Norton), a Brooklyn detective in post-war New York. Working with street smart private investigator Frank Minna (Bruce Willis), Lionel (who also goes by the name Brooklyn) and his team uncover the truth for hire. However, when Minna is shot and left for dead, Lionel determines to unravel the mystery, plunging him into a Brooklyn underworld riddled with crime, corruption and colourful characters. As his quest for truth leads him further up New York’s ladder of power, Lionel’s investigation is complicated by his Tourette syndrome, which leaves him prone to compulsive behavioural tics and inappropriate verbal outbursts.

Adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name, Brooklynis a tightly written throwback film to classic Hollywood’s noir films like The Big Sleep or Chinatown. With a stellar cast and tightly written script, Norton creates a world which feels both foreign and familiar. While the film transports the audience back to 1950s New York, it also feels current in today’s culture, highlighting racial tensions and the growing divide between the upper and lower classes. In Motherless Brooklyn, power is a drug that gives people the freedom to ‘do whatever they want, whenever they want’ but it’s also short in supply. Divided by racial and financial lines, Brooklyn is a city on the brink of chaos.Those that have little power are struggling to make their voices heard while those who have much fight ferociously to maintain it. 

As Brooklyn himself, Norton’s performance is sharp, engaging, and loving. At the same time, the character becomes a metaphor for the town for which he’s named. Plagued by Tourette Syndrome, Brooklyn feels as though there’s a chaos in his mind that bubbles over and has to be released. While the casual passerby may not immediately notice Brooklyn’s struggle, his mental chaos inevitably reveals itself. With this in mind, the film clearly draws a line between his character and the city itself, as its own unseen chaos can’t help but overflow from the underground. Diffused lighting and growing shadows point to tension between light and darkness, as Brooklyn (the character) attempts to uncover the truth about Brooklyn (the city). Like his compulsion to pull on the threads of his sweater, Brooklyn also must unravel the web of deception until the facts about his city is revealed.

Furthermore, the film also does not shy away from engaging in the complexities of Brooklyn’s mental health issues. Bullied as a child for his affliction, Brooklyn has always been the one that was pitied by others. After Minna’s death, Brooklyn becomes seen by others primarily for his mental affliction as they constantly try to ‘look out’ for him, rationalizing that he needs their protection. Frustrated by his inability to control his mind and constantly reminded of the burden he is by others, Brooklyn remains ashamed and embarrassed by his behaviour. 

Conversely, however, while clearly struggling with his mental illness, he also recognizes its value. Despite the chaos within him, his Tourettes is also what makes him a great detective by forcing him to ‘pull on the thread’ of truth and allowing him to retain incredible amounts of information. What’s more, the film even paints a portrait of Tourette syndrome with an element of beauty by highlighting the musical aspect of Brooklyn’s mental chaos. (For example, this comparison is highlighted when, in one particularly poignant scene, Brooklyn’s inadvertent vocables cause him to become a participant in a jazz ensemble.)

Featuring strong performances and well-written script, Motherless Brooklyn is an entertaining and engaging return to the noir genre. Under the Norton’s direction, the film is also impressive visually, as the shadows and darkness of New York’s underworld are constantly warring against the light of truth. 

Motherless Brooklyn unravels the mystery in theatres on November 1st, 2019.

Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, film noir, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Leslie Mann, Motherless Brooklyn, TIFF, TIFF19, Willem Dafoe

The Nut Job 2 – Nutty By Nature: Easy Doesn’t Build Character

August 18, 2017 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

From the Canadian writer/director team of Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen (Escape from Planet Earth, upcoming Son of Bigfoot), The Nut Job 2 is the clever sequel to the 2014 animated film starring Will Arnett that wasn’t The Lego Movie … but was just as funny. Starring as Surly, Arnett’s voice drove the story of a group of animals from Liberty Park who found a cache of food in a local nut shop. In the sequel, Nutty by Nature, Brunker and Barlen steer their crew of forest friends into a battle with corrupt Mayor Muldoon (SNL’s Bobby Moynihan) over the amusement park he wants to erect on the remains of their park home.

Let’s be clear: at this point in my life, I’m seeing 99% of the animated films released in theaters and on home media, and I’m very aware that they are hit or miss. (For the record, I’ll call Sing, Moana, Zootopia, and Trolls some of the hits.) But Arnett’s vocals – and the clever collection of assorted characters that surround Surly – are amusing and laugh out loud funny, and the script is remarkably engaging as well.

First, we have a star, animated turn by Jackie Chan as Mr. Feng, a country mouse-turned-city mouse who leads his band of “don’t call me, cute” Shaolin-trained mice in defending their turf. While the outtakes during the credits are funny, Chan’s parts are genuine scene-stealers. Throw in Jeff Denham’s Mole, who accidentally causes the nut shop to explode via his own neglect and sets in motion the action of the film, and the pug and bulldog combo of Precious and Frankie (Maya Rudolph and Bobby Cannavale) adds to that as well. For me personally, the perpetual “we’re gonna die!” refrain from one of the chipmunks is absolutely funny, too.

But in a surprise turn – where animated films seem to be either funny or poignant, NJ2 nails both. Here, we hear from Surly’s “girlfriend,” Andie (Katherine Heigl), push Surly to be responsible, even before the nut shop blows up. She tells him that good things don’t come easy, that “easy doesn’t build character,” and continues to implore him to lead well. She’s also the one that reminds Surly that “we’re better together,” and that nothing can’t be accomplished when we work together as a team. These are elements of faith and community, whether you believe in one thing or another, that bind us together as human.

While the film is one I look forward to seeing again for its action, adventure, and hilarious moments, it’s one that I give my highest honor: it’s preachable. Because in the midst of the world we live in, with the ways that things are often presented to divide us and isolate us, NJ2 reminds us that we are all created special, with gifts and grace that we’re supposed to share.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: bob barlen, Bobby Cannavale, cal brunker, escape from planet earth, Jackie Chan, jeff denham, Maya Rudolph, son of bigfoot, will arnett

Vinyl Season One: Where Do You Find Your Worth?

June 7, 2016 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

vinyl

The latest hit from HBO isn’t an ensemble power play. Yes, it’s an ensemble show, but the power of this show is Bobby Cannavale’s American Century record executive Richie Finestra. Finestra is a force of nature who cares about his company – and music – in a way that he is begging his team of executives and those around him to care.

In ten episodes of season one, we’re treated to the way that Finestra struggles for recognition and respect, pursuing deals and artists in a way that speaks to his desperation. With wife Devon (Olivia Wilde) in tow, Finestra blows his way through an arc that encounters the ups, downs, and problems of being in the music business.

Music fans will dig the vibes here, and historical collisions and crossed paths with luminaries like Andy Warhol and Robert Plant. There are mobbed up moments, and cop elements, which show the influence of Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese, to balance the musical influence of Mick Jagger, who also co-produces. But audiences will see a mashup of music and style that is unrivaled this side of MTV… twenty years ago.

In the end, we hope Cannavale’s Finestra is left standing, but there’s no guarantee that will happen. The music scene is just too unpredictable.

Filed Under: DVD, Reviews, SmallFish, Television Tagged With: American Century, Bobby Cannavale, HBO, Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Records, Vinyl

Primary Sidebar

THE SF NEWS

Get a special look, just for you.

sf podcast

Hot Off the Press

  • The Marijuana Conspiracy: Token Rights and Freedoms
  • Quo Vadis, Aida? – Helplessness
  • GIVEAWAY! The Marksman on Blu-Ray!
  • In The Earth: Getting Too Close to Mother Nature
  • Monday – The Price of Hedonism
Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

where faith and film are intertwined

film and television carry stories which remind us of the stories God has woven since the beginning of time. come with us on a journey to see where faith and film are intertwined.

Footer

ScreenFish Articles

The Marijuana Conspiracy: Token Rights and Freedoms

Quo Vadis, Aida? – Helplessness

  • About ScreenFish
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 · ScreenFish.net · Built by Aaron Lee