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The scene where Norton tries out his standup act at the housing office is really what made me decide this could never seriously be argued as a good movie. Maybe, just maybe, if they had cut out the first 12 minutes and opened with Baldwin I would be more forgiving, but it starts with a bad impression and does nothing to relieve it.

I was as skeptical as everyone going into this knowing his performance would be controversial but I was hoping Norton would develop himself to a point where he became a three dimensional character and overcame that judgment, which would have been a great feat, but it never came. Perhaps I was so focused on that aim of fitting a square peg into a round hole I kind of ignored or had little patience for the rest of the material.

It doesn't help that he really throws himself at you for the whole run time. I think it might have worked if he didn't have the voice over. In general I think it would have helped a lot to take more cues from The Maltese Falcon which does the same basic structure so much better.