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Submitted by cinemascope on Fri, 2006-05-12 07:59. :: Cinemascope 5
Movie title:
Brick
Starring:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Norah Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O'Leary
Directed by:
Rian Johnson
Written by:
Rian Johnson
Genre:
Mystery/High School/Thriller
Year:
2006
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
110 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
When his ex-girlfriend disappears, teenage loner Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) delves into the underworld of a high school crime ring to get to the bottom of the mystery.
When his ex-girlfriend disappears, teenage loner Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) delves into the underworld of a high school crime ring to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Review
At the centre of Brick is a brilliant premise - take the hard-boiled dialogue from the novels of Dashiel Hammett and the labyrinthine plots of Raymond Chandler, and transpose them to a Californian high school. What may seem gimmicky on the page is brilliantly realised on the screen, with the open sun-bleached spaces of the high school and small coastal town brilliantly evoking a bright alternative to noir (as Polanski did in Chinatown), and the dialogue brought sparkling to life by a talented cast, headed up by Gordon-Levitt, the most exciting young actor working in Hollywood. He's as impressive in this movie as he was in Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin, and is ably backed up by Lukas Haas as The Pin, local teenage crimelord, and Noah Fleiss as the menacing lug Tugger. What could descend into Bugsy Malone-style parody though is taken completely seriously and works magnificently, with the very occasional reminder of the world we're in - The Pin's mother interrupting a pow-pow to offer the boys orange squash - bringing greater laughs as a result. One of the best films we've seen this year.
At the centre of Brick is a brilliant premise - take the hard-boiled dialogue from the novels of Dashiel Hammett and the labyrinthine plots of Raymond Chandler, and transpose them to a Californian high school. What may seem gimmicky on the page is brilliantly realised on the screen, with the open sun-bleached spaces of the high school and small coastal town brilliantly evoking a bright alternative to noir (as Polanski did in Chinatown), and the dialogue brought sparkling to life by a talented cast, headed up by Gordon-Levitt, the most exciting young actor working in Hollywood. He's as impressive in this movie as he was in Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin, and is ably backed up by Lukas Haas as The Pin, local teenage crimelord, and Noah Fleiss as the menacing lug Tugger. What could descend into Bugsy Malone-style parody though is taken completely seriously and works magnificently, with the very occasional reminder of the world we're in - The Pin's mother interrupting a pow-pow to offer the boys orange squash - bringing greater laughs as a result. One of the best films we've seen this year.
