Motherless Brooklyn

Written and directed by Edward Norton and starring the acclaimed actor as a private eye with Tourette Syndrome, Motherless Brooklyn is all-around good enough but never aspires to greatness.

That’s a shame, considering what a more imaginative filmmaker could do with this labyrinthine, Chinatown-light story of murder and corruption in 1950s New York City.

Instead, Norton (whose verbal tics quickly grow tiresome) and his all-star cast — including Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin and Cherry Jones — seem content to play dress-up amidst thorough period details, solving the myriad connected mysteries without expelling more effort than what’s required.

The results are of course nowhere near the highs of the Polanski classic — which may never be exceeded — but for an honorable homage, viewers could do a lot worse.

Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Starts Nov. 1 at Biltmore Grande, Carolina Cinemark, and Grail Moviehouse

(Photo: Warner Bros.)