Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson for Wbgr-fm on January 9th, 2025, reviewing “The Brutalist” co-written and directed by Brady Corbet. In select theaters since January 10th, wider release to follow. See local listings.

The story is about Laszlo Toth (Adrian Brody), who comes to America after World War II and his concentration camp experiences, to first work at his cousin’s furniture business and subsequently take on designing jobs, as he was a notable architect who worked in Poland before the war. When wealthy client Harrison (Guy Pierce) is appalled with Laszlo’s design work on a surprise home project, the architect runs away and becomes a drifter and a junkie. When that small project later turns out to be a sensation, Harrison reaches out to find Laszlo, then commissions a building from him, and as part of that new project helps...