Movie Review: "Brick"

We went to see "Brick," the much-talked about new film from director Rian Johnson. The movie received much acclaim at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but when we first saw the trailer about a month ago, we were a little put off. After learning about the premise for the film, however, we went in to theater with high expectations. The idea behind "Brick" is a Dashiell Hammet-style murder mystery with all the pulpy film noir attributes of a Sam Spade detective drama, a la "The Big Sleep" or "Maltese Falcon." Except that rather than the glamour-hoods of foggy-night 1940's West Los Angeles or San Francisco, the setting is a sequence of sleepy, suburban track homes, strip smalls and a high school in San Clemente California. And rather than cynical middle-aged adults on the make or mark, the main characters are high school kids. Johnson has taken the smart, rapid-fire hip-slang patter of those film noir classics and injected it into his script big time. "Brick" is a remarkable film. At its weakest, it makes you gape at the absurdity of a bunch of high school kids playing it so beyond cool when their lives have barely begun. At its best the movie awes you with its mystery and sharp storytelling. "Brick" works in no small part because it has pulled off the trick of turning a mundane world into one filled with drama, style, intrigue and danger and doing so in a compelling way.

Rating: Air Massive rating is 4 stars out 5

Posted by Robsam at May 11, 2006 02:07 AM