Brick
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Movie Reviews of Brick
Movie Review: Noir reintroduced in an earnest movie starring great young actors
Summary: 5 Stars
Pick up any of several volumes within the revered Library of America series (esp. Crime Novels of the 1930's and 1940's), and it is easy to see how noir fiction became such a rich source of creative movie-making. "Brick" is the latest in a series of great ("Chinatown," "Mulholland Drive," "Blue Velvet") and very good movies ("L.A. Confidential," "Heist," "The Grifters," "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") that use the trappings of noir literature and earlier noir films. "Brick" adapts the dialogue and plots of Dashiell Hammett to a setting familiar to the screenwriter/director: a Southern California high school, the cliques of teenagers therein, and a familiarity with illicit drug dealing. The speech of the characters works because the teenagers are still kids, despite the serious themes and deadly consequences.
There's humor inherent in putting young people into the noir setting, but its not the noir that's the target of easy jokes. It's not so much a joke, as in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," that the main character gets himself beat up, but the humor comes from a tense confrontation between gumshoes and kingpin being interrupted by the kingpin's mom serving orange juice. Funny in "Brick," but also a point of realism: drug dealers are often teenagers who do in fact bring their business (and violence) into their parents' kitchens. Much of the surreal "where I eat lunch" type of dialogue can be seen as a device to show how a lot of teens turn to dope and dope-dealing to shoehorn themselves into adult roles. The only meaningful adult-teen interaction, fittingly, comes between Gordon-Levitt's character and the school principal, played by the great Richard Roundtree.
The acting in this film is top-notch and a great pleasure to see. The empty high school setting reflects the isolation the protagonist lives in, and we are shown only the meaningful (or perhaps remembered) aspects of his days. Compare this to another earnest film about high school, "Elephant," and it's easy to see how professional actors and the elimination of background clutter makes for a better presentation. It's also nice to see that "Brick" has a healthy number of passionate defenders on the Amazon page. Hopefully, Gordon-Levitt continues to take on roles like the ones in "Brick" and "Mysterious Skin." His generation badly needs its own Jack Nicholson.
Movie Review: Noir Meets The Teens
Summary: 5 Stars
"This is not a teen movie." This statement comes straight from director Rian Johnson and never have truer words been spoken. The language is strong, forceful and brilliant, and the settings dark, drug-infected, and noirish, harkening back to Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.
Being one of his first feature films, Rian Johnson has struck gold with this indie movie, making us wonder what he could accomplish with a larger budget (BRICK was made on less than $500,000).
The story seems pedestrian enough. A high schooler named Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 3rd Rock from the Sun) takes it upon himself to investigate the death of his former girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin, LOST). The discoveries launch Brendan into dark corners where drugs, thugs, and friends combine to form a triangle of deadly proportions. Pulling heavily from noir films of old, this updated look and story has a unique place amongst the genre. Brendan's niche group cares nothing for cheerleading squads or who's dating who. The level of sophistication is upped to extreme levels, showing us a danger and intellect amongst the teen population never before seen on celluloid.
The noir comparisons are the most fascinating. The cloudy skies, telephone booths, and shadowy locales give an underpinning sense of dread, much like films from the 30s and 40s. There's even a piano playing portion that obviously pays homage to the "Play it again, Sam" lovers.
Shot on location at San Clemente High School (the directors alma mater) and edited on a home computer, this amazing flick will win audiences over with its wonderful camera angles, dark themes and excellent script. The acting, too, is well done with Joseph Gordon-Levitt appearing in every scene and pulling the quality of the entire production even higher.
My only gripe is the sound. Editing must've been tough and several times lines were garbled or mumbled, making it necessary to rewind and find out what was said.
Watch out Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Howard. Rian Johnson is on your tails!
Sundance Award Winning Film: 2005 Special Jury Prize Dramatic - Originality of Vision
Movie Review: Rule #1: Turn On Your Subtitles ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Brick is a strange animal that seems to appear almost out of nowhere. A lot of people my have come here because they've heard about this movie and haven't yet seen it. Some of you may have come here because you tried to watch it but had to turn it off because you couldn't understand what the hell they were talking about.
Let me suggest this: TURN ON THE SUBTITLES.
Yeah, I know it's in English and you recognize the main character from that TV show: Third Rock from The Sun, but this isn't a sitcom on NBC, and this isn't your typical run-of-the-mill, teen flavored High School drama. In Brick, you're about as far from John Hughes territory as your going to get and closer to the backyard of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler than you might realize. As a huge fan of The Big Sleep, I was really caught of guard by this film and stunned when I realized just what was going on. Seeing 1940's film noir, soaked in a teen centered tale of woe, works better than I would've ever thought. And for the record, I don't think anyone, other than the writer dared attempt something like this and succeed at it too. Bravo.
Rian Johnson makes a writing and directorial debut to rival most of his peers and mentors. This film is enough to make the Gods tremble, hopefully he'll be able to follow it up appropriately. On a side note, Rian offers up his screenplay, the novella he wrote that goes with it, an essay and drawings for no charge on his site, which is easily found, if you're interested in reading.
Nora Zehetner as the smoldering and cold-calculating heroine is also a definite high point, and her career and longevity in films is assured.
This film could easily be the Blade Runner of this generation.
Movie Review: A refreshing film in a year of popcorn movies...
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw a trailer for this on some other DVD and the trailer left me wanting more. But after that, I heard very little about the movie. Then, I just happened to see it at Target. Well, I have thrown away plenty of good money over the years just buying DVDs brand new without watching it beforehand. So, I went to Hollywood video and picked it up used for about $8.00. All I can say is that it was one of the best movie purchases I have made in a long time.
I'm no professional reviewer (as you can tell from my other reviews) but this movie grabbed me from the beginning and didn't let go. It takes a bunch of high school kids and throws them in an adult situation. A kid's ex-girlfriend is found dead and he wants to find out whodunit. That's the movie's premise. But the path from Point A to Point B is a twisted one full of quick dialogue and beautiful camera shots. I had to watch it with the subtitles on so I could catch everything that was said. The way the movie bounces around and has several interesting characters reminds me of a Tarantino movie. I'm no expert in the film noir genre as the review by Amazon states this movie is, but if this is what the genre holds, I will become a fan. I'm not going to go into the plot of the movie because other people have done that already, so go read their reviews if that's what you want. It's a strong film with a hardly-known cast. Some of them will look familiar to you, but you probably won't remember where you have seen them. All of the performances are solid and not put aside by a big-named star like other films auffer from. The movie seems like a cross between Clerks (for its quick dialogue--although not humorous like Clerks--and independent feel), a Tarantino movie (for its unique characters) and L.A. Confidential (for its crime and plot.) If I haven't bored you to sleep, get in your car, hop the bus or walk to the closest place to find this movie and grab it.
Movie Review: Smart. Sassy. Neo-Noir.
Summary: 5 Stars
BRICK is a noir story the likes of The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon - except set in a modern day Californian high school. If this premise seems ludicrous to you, I can't imagine you'd appreciate this film. However, I thought the change up worked really well. Having your reluctant hero be a jaded, withdrawn teen who eats his lunch behind the school and yearns to solve the mystery of what happened to his ex-lady love completely enthralled me. The twists on the old form are interesting. The vamp being a drama student with a surprisingly posh dressing room. The go-to sidekick being a nerd with access to his mom's cell phone. The muscle being a growling hip hop inspired pot smoker. The movie seethes with a smart energy and the dialogue sizzles.
And even after you watch the first time, and the mystery is solved, Brandon's journey is so intense and swirling that it's great to watch over and over again.
The soundtrack and cinematography complete the package to make a slick movie that is both fun and dark.
My favorite scene is the one that (for me) best encapsulates the film's tone: Brandon gets pulled into the vice principal's office, where he is asked to rat out potential dealers on school property. Brandon says he is no man's stoolie. He did it once, but that was "to see [the dealer] eaten not to see you [the VP] fed!" He then shouts that if the VP has a discipline issue with him "write me up or suspend me!" This scene so clearly mirrors those scenes where the noir hero is asked to compromise his own investigation that I was tittering throughout.
This film is an original and interesting tale with beautiful camera work and excellent performances. Highly recommended.
One note of warning: Sadly, the packaging of this movie gives away some of the twists and turns in the movie. SO I would recommend not looking too hard at the cover before checking it out.