Brick (2006) January 7, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected By: Rian Johnson
This movie was an indie hit earlier in the year, and deservedly so as it highlights everything that Hollywood often fails to capture. Cool characters, great dialogue, a defined theme in a relatable world, and most of all, it stands up to common conjecture with a sly note slipped to the audience that reads ‘Thought you’d seen everything?’.
The story revolves around a born outsider, Brendan, who works his way into the dark high school underworld after his ex-girlfriend Emily disappears. He soon discovers the horrible truth that she has been murdered, and is forced to integrate further into their criminal dealings. With only his street-smart friend The Brain to aide him, Brendan begins to shake things up in his search for whoever put Emily in front of the gun.
It’s a detective story, as the poster states, and an old-fashioned film noir to boot. But when you’re expecting trench coats, fedora hats and downtown apartments renovated into offices, instead you’re given high school, social classes and meeting by the lockers. This film both acknowledges and elevates itself above its surroundings, so while characters do live with their parents and attend school, it’s their ‘adult’ life outside of that where the story takes place.
The magnificent script packs in more style and detective-lingo than you can keep up with at times. It took me maybe 20 minutes to really get used to it, and even when you do that’s not an excuse to stop concentrating. No doubt this will be the movie’s downfall for some, who won’t necessarily want to give it such a chance, and for whom the film will never reach its full potential.
Apparently first time writer/director Rian Johnson spent six years trying to get this film made, and when it finally did go before cameras it was on a limited budget ($500,000) and edited on a Mac computer. None of this shows in the final product however, its low-budget nature quickly eclipsed by fantastic performances from the whole cast, especially central lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt whose character drives the movie. Johnson’s direction too is surprisingly accomplished, although he admits that one aspect of such a long pre-production period was that it afforded him the ability to have every shot planned in detail. Shooting in the area where he grew up, San Clemente, CA, clearly helped the cinematography too.
If you’re always complaining that there’s nothing new or different to watch in modern cinema then you owe it to yourself to see Brick. Such suave execution and originality is rarely seen these days. It’s not an easy recommendation (I can think of only a few friends who I would pass it on to), but for those with the right patience, this is a gem of a movie. I urge you to blow this site and get a pick to your burghs local video store, or at least scrape a copy from a friend. Just don’t let the bulls know, or you’ll be duck soup.
Comments»
I watched this film last night, I thought about turning it off after 10 minutes but before I knew it, it had finished. I thought it was really good but I didn’t get it, the speak was too much for me. Is there any way you could sum up what happended for me as I have to take it back to the video shop today? I just want to know who **** ****, whose **** **** was, what the girl with short dark hair had to do with it, and more if you have the time. I hope you can respond as the is the 2nd film I have watched that I didn’t really get, the first being Muholland Drive, I have watched that at least 7 times now and am getting close to understanding that. Thanks, Kim
I’ve edited your comment to remove some spoilers, but I’ve also sent you an email addressing your questions about the movie. Thought it might be best to keep open discussions about the ending to a minimum here on the site itself.
Good on you for sticking with Mulholland Dr. - once was too many times for me!