Brick: a high-school film noir detective story

Director Rian Johnson
Writer Rian Johnson
Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zethetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss and Matt O’Leary
Genre Crime/Drama/History
Story After receiving a panic-stricken phone call from his terrified ex-girlfriend Emily (de Ravin), high school loner Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) sets out to infiltrate the cliques she left him for, aided by sidekick Brain (O’Leary) and the mysterious Laura (Zehetner).

For Rian Johnson’s first directorial debut, Johnson took his high-school observation, made it longer and twisted it, to make an original detective story. There is a beauty of an honest mystery in Brick with a series of clues and twists, which end up as a difficult but good original climax at the end. It does take time to get in the movie because Brick is a fast movie, in the first 20 minutes you already know a lot of characters and clues. You also have to keep up with the language of the teenagers, like to blow, is to leave, bulls, are cops and duck soup are easy pickings. There is a good unknown cast in Brick; sometimes they struggle with dialogues and feelings but after a half hour these thoughts disappear. The revelation is without a doubt the Third Rock from the Sun actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who gives us a strong lead performance as Brendan, the loner who is still in love with his ex-girlfriend and who is determined to find the truth. It is good to see him evolve in a good adult actor, rather than stay a teenage TV star. The rest of the cast includes Nora Zehetner, who plays Laura, the beautiful girl, Lukas Haas, who plays The Pin, the main drug dealer, Noah Fleiss, who plays though guy Tugger, struggles when he has to show feelings, and then there is Matt O’Leary, Brendan’s sidekick.
Rian Johnson makes a smart and special debut that doesn’t answer to the cliché standards of Hollywood. Fear, desire, paranoia, innocence, sex, violence, guilt, betrayal and revenge make this a film noir. The detective side of the story could remind you David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Brick is not a movie made for everyone, there are going to be arguments between the young and the old, but Brick stays an original detective story, that maybe end up as a cult classic.

Conclusion: A high-school film noir detective story with a splendid Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A good debut for Rian Johnson.

8/10