Brick

Universal Studios - Universal Studios

Release date: 2006-08-08
DVD
Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emilie De Ravin

Adult Situations, Amateur Sleuths, Color, Crime, Deadpan, Detective Film, Drama, Drug Content, Drug Trade, English, Feature, Feature Film-drama, Femmes Fatales, High School Life, Misfits and Outsiders, Movie, Murder Investigations, Mystery, Mystery / Suspense, Post-Noir (Modern Noir)

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Brick

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This movie is a little off the beaten path, but it doesn't fail to deliver. It has more twists and turns than Nascar and the best part is you don't need headphones! This movie offers a fresh insight into the hierarchy of people. Definitely enjoyed!

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Brick

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In up and coming director Rian Johnson's film Brick, audiences are treated to a truly unique and memorable mystery film. Inspired by the literary work of the great detective novel writer Dashiell Hammett, who is best known as the creator of Sam Spade and The Thin Man, Rian Johnson set out to create a hip, contemporary noir film. While simultaneously following in the footsteps of great mystery writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Johnson succeeds in revitalizing the detective genre for a new generation, and he does so by making a drastic departure from the traditions of typical film noir. Rather than setting his story in a decaying metropolis full of smoky rooftops and shadowy alleyways, Johnson places the story and its characters in the suburbs of modern day Southern California. He transforms the hard-bitten stereotyped figures of pulp novels into world-weary teenagers and he updates the all-too-familiar dialogue of detective films, turning it into something more improvisational and poetic, almost as though the film's dialogue was part of a jazz song. Though the highly stylized dialogue limits the commercial accessibility of the film, it is arguably what gives the story its refreshing flavor. Using a combination of 1940s slang and modern pop terminologies, Johnson dislocates viewers from reality and relocates them in a "shadow world", where every darkness hides behind it a secret and every soul is haunted by their misdeeds. Yet somehow the film avoids pretension and self-importance, which is truly remarkable in itself.

When Brendan, an anti-social and extremely street savvy high school senior, receives a distressed phone call from his ex-girlfriend, Emily, who cryptically asks him to help her, he doesn't know what to do. They had broken up a few short months earlier when Emily began hanging with the wrong crowd; the rich, the snotty, the over privileged and then the low-level drug dealers and a host of other less than savory peers. Brendan had tried to protect her from their corrupting influence, from their world of drugs, sex, and violence, but his efforts failed and Emily left him for a drug dealer named Dode. Now Brendan sees his chance to help her, to save her from self-destruction if it isn't already too late... but it is. Learning that Emily was meant to meet someone for a late night meeting in a tunnel, Brendan shows up hoping to talk to her. Instead he finds her dead body. After hiding her body, Brendan begins to set into action a plan to find those responsible for Emily's "downfall". Naturally Brendan, being somewhat of a lone wolf, doesn't have direct access to the same cliques that Emily did. He goes to his brilliantly resourceful friend, Brain, who seems to have the dirt on just about everyone in school. With Brain's help, Brendan infiltrates a world of drug dealers, of adolescent femme fatales, of snitches and sneaks, and of conspiracies. Soon the trail leads him to a local urban legend regarding a drug dealer known as The Pin (short for The Kingpin), who lives in his parents' basement. When Brendan finally makes his way into The Pin's circle and meets his "hothead" bodyguard Tug, and his slinky and seductive gal pal Laura, he has no clue of the level of danger and deception that surrounds him. As the intrigue is elevated so too are Brendan's troubles. It doesn't take him long to figure out that "there's not much chance of coming out clean."

It should be pretty obvious that Brick is in no way an attempt to portray high school realistically. Rian Johnson has, in fact, succeeded in making high school even more oppressive and agonizing. Who knew that was even possible?
Another great strength of the film is its use of atmospheric and highly evocative music. The beautifully haunting score was created by Rian Johnson's cousin, Nathan Johnson, who heightens the story's emotional subtext and the dramatic tension in a devastating manner.
The film features a talented young cast including Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan, Lukas Haas as The Pin, Noah Fleiss as Tug, Norah Zehetner as Laura, Matt O'Leary as Brain, Noah Segan as Dode, and Emilie de Ravin as Emily. The cast also features Meagan Good, and in a cameo role, Richard Roundtree of Shaft fame. The entire cast is really spectacular, especially when you consider the difficulty of delivering such strange, stylized dialogue with a sense of sincerity.

Also recommended:
The Maltese Falcon
Rebel Without a Cause
Chinatown
The Outsiders
The Coen Brothers Movie Collection
Romeo + Juliet
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