[Sway]

Old trailer

Brick is a movie I've been interested in seeing for months now. I first heard great things about it from places on the net, and the trailer really got me interested in checking it out, but it was a limited release run and I didn't get a chance to see it in theaters.

I was able to get an advance copy of the DVD last night (it will be in stores August 8th), and I was blown away by how good it was, which I will get into after I tell you what this movie's about.

The single best way to describe this movie is a film-noir style detective story set in a modern day California high school.

The story follows Brendan Frye on a quest through the seedy underworld of his high school as he investigates the disappearance of his girlfriend. Along the way he encounters all the usual archetypes of the high school setting, the jocks, the popular girls, the potheads, etc., navigating them all with slicing Bogart-esque diaglogue. The hardest thing to grasp is that the characters don't speak like you think they should, the dialogue is straight out of a noir film from the 40s, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's hard-boiled protagonist delivering lines that are sometimes intimidating and sometimes very humorous. With all the double-crosses and twists and turns I found the plot to be a bit confusing at times, however there's a wrap up sequence near the end that clarifies things for the bewildered.

Some people have been saying it's just a glib film-school exercise in cleverness, but I think Brick is a deeply felt and impeccably well made film. This was an original idea and it was pulled off well in all categories. Visually very good (except too much lens flare for my taste) and relatively effective simulation of noir style. The script was very good, the conversational style was fluid, dynamic, and an excellent throwback to traditional noir. The acting was great.

Part of the film's charm comes from the way it matches up the standard detective flick characters with their underage equivalents. There's the flawed but driven detective himself, his trusty right-hand man, the dangerous but seductive "dame," and of course, an array of sketchy but lovably human villains. Additionally, all of the requisite milestones are there: the confusing and frantic inciting incident, the run-ins with mysterious clues and questionable characters, a couple of old fashioned punch outs, a few twists and turns, and a bittersweet denouement. The parallels run even deeper, but to go into any more detail would give too much away.

On top of the all the dreariness, however, the surrealism is used to excellent comic effect as well.

The only real point of complaint I can understand is the dialogue. You quickly realize that this film isn't meant for the casual popcorn-eater after the first round of rapid-fire dialogue shoots past you. The heavy use of mostly ficticious "street talk" sounds almost like another language at first, but it quickly becomes understandable if you're paying reasonable attention. Ultimately, it gives the film not only an added sense of realism, since the characters never sound as if they're trying to keep an audience informed, but also produces yet another dimension of "detective noir" that digs the film even deeper into its unique surrealism.

With so much worthless, forgettable crap coming out of Hollywood, films like this are the perfect antidote for those of us looking for something refreshing, with genuine artistic integrity and respect for the audience, though this isn't the kind of film that's meant to get you coffee house "cred" when you tell people you like it. It's a film that's got all the benefits of the indie fringe without any of the self-indulgent baggage you'll grimace through but pretend you appreciate afterwards. It's clever as hell, but unlike 99% of the "clever" movies out there, it actually backs it up with genuine substance.

This movie surpassed every single expectation I had and was one of the coolest and most refreshing things I've seen in years. As you know I rarely review movies here but I was compelled by how awesome this film was and wanted to make sure as many people see it as possible, even though a lot of you might not be able to appreciate it until you're older.

See Brick.

[Lord Shmeckie]

This film seems a bit too artsy for my tatses. Feels like another one of those movies that someone made as an art project, without any real audience in mind. From the trailer, it looks like it's trying less to parallel, and play from, noir films, but more like it's actually trying to be a genuine noir film, which, with a backdrop like it has, seems just plain goofy.

So, basically, I'll pass on it.

[EnigmaEchidna]

Oddly enough, this actually is one of the type of movies that I would watch.

[Sway]

I think you should give it a chance Shmeckie, it got a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, which as any movie buff knows is an incredibly good percentage.

[Lord Shmeckie]

Rotten Tomatoes has never been a really good selling point, for me. For one thing, they mostly just link to other movie critics, and movie critics lap stuff like this up like a thirsty cat.

[Sway]

Well even Roger Ebert, a guy who grew up on things like The Maltese Falcon, and was knowledgeable and respected enough to do DVD commentaries for Casablance and Citizen Kane, couldn't see through the supposed bullshit. But that's all I will say about this. If you don't want to see it, you don't want to see it, but I liked it a lot.

[Muzzy Roberto]

Well, whatever you do, don't see 'Breakfast on Pluto' Just don't. Trust me.