Brick Review

     With my excitement for the upcoming film Looper, I've decided to look back into the filmography of director Rian Johnson, and in doing so I discovered Brick. Brick is the story of Brendan, a high school student who has recently lost his girlfriend, and is all around low on luck. After she goes missing, he takes it upon himself to track her down, and find out exactly what happened to her. There is more than it seems to this film however, and I explain it's interesting direction after the jump.
     Brendan's quest to find his missing girl leads him into the criminal underworld of his local high school, and while that may sound rather strange, it works surprisingly well in the film. Brick is at it's core a modern noir, boasting a unique color scheme, a broken down detective, and lies wrapped in lies, enshrouded by more deception.
     At first it was odd to see such a serious look and sinister approach to a high school setting, and it was odd watching Brendan going through his high school days like a regular Sam Spade, although thankfully this was only due to the unique direction of the film. While at first it caught me off guard and struck me as odd, after a few more convincing and rather suspenseful scenes, I found myself drawn right in along with Brendan, searching for clues, and hints, trying to find who is behind it all. I'll shy away from really getting into too much of the plot, as it's fantastic to watch and find it out for yourself. 
     Brendan, the backpacking detective, is played by a young Joseph Gordon Levitt. He plays a refreshingly unique character. While his usual detective traits are nothing new to the genre, it's wholly unique and interesting to see those qualities exhibited by a loner high school student, and Levitt pulls off his character with surprising believability and wit. 
     The whole cast of characters in Brick are surprisingly entertaining to watch, Brendan's bookish right hand man 'The Brain' is just as interesting as The Pin himself, and many other unique personalities are sprinkled in the story. While I will shy away from more in depth discussion of the cast, for purpose of not disclosing the plot, I can tell you they all add in to the mystery and intrigue of the film, as each plays their own interesting role in the overall scheme of things.
     I can easily recommend this to all fans of noir, from the genre defining Maltese Falcon from the sweaty and rather unique Body Heat. Everyone will feel oddly comfortable watching Brendan navigate the rather mysterious hallways of his perilous high school, where notes are used to exchange information much more sinister than prom dates, and contraband present in lockers goes far beyond lowly SparkNotes.