Brick
Last Friday, my girlfriend Michele and I caught the opening of Rian Johnson’s teen detective film, Brick. Coleman- hook us up with a co-login! Yes, I am flooding this site. Some spoilers below…
MICHELE: When Brick premiered at Sundance in 2005, it was one of the sleeper hits of the festival. Little was known about the plot, aside from it being a murder mystery in a high school setting. And that it starred Joseph Gordon–Levitt, who has just had a brilliant performance in Mysterious Skin and Lukas Haas, who appears in movies occasionally.
At Sundance, Brick was one of the hardest tickets to get. As a result, the Sundance Jury presented a special award to Director Rian Johnson- the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision. After seeing this movie, you understand why.
Brick is not intended to be your average high school teen drama. You get that immediately when the dialogue instantly starts up. Spoken in style coated in slang, the movie forces you to think, and think quickly to keep up with the info that is provided. While not everything is clear, as long as you follow along, you are able to figure out what is going on. But even in times when you can’t figure out what was just said, it doesn’t bother you. The lines are written & spoken in such fluidity that it is easy on the ear, almost reminding you of iambic pentameter.
ALEX: Brick is a newish film by first time director Rian Johnson. I say newish because it originally premiered at Sundance almost two years ago. Focus Features just released it in two theaters last Friday, and god knows why they waited so long. It’s easily the best film released so far this year and it’s singular vision recalls the initial reaction to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Scream, and Napoleon Dynamite. These are all films that turned High School genre films on their head and became more than just a failed experiment or an attempt to cash in on youth culture.
At the same time, you’re reminded of how fresh The Usual Suspects and Memento were when first released. The plot isn’t as revelatory, but its adherence to the noir sensibility is.
MICHELE: The plot line is pretty easy to follow- ex-girlfriend contacts old (as in 2 months ago) boyfriend for help. He is a former user who went clean, rating out a few as he left. While he got clean, she got further into it, and turns up dead.
Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) begins the search to find out what happened. Already being an outcast with some former connection to the underworld, he is able easily connect dots, and piece most of the puzzle together, utilizing characters against one another, to figure out what actually happened.
ALEX: A few reviews have compared his tactics to Yojimbo’s (or The Man With No Name), in that he’s knowingly playing everyone off each other from the beginning. I don’t really buy that. Although he certainly knows how to manipulate, he’s more of a stubborn character than a crafty one. Take his fight with football player. He has a strategic reason for the fight, but he’s a bloody mess afterwards. He wins through sheer stubbornness.
His goal from the outset is to find out why his girlfriend is in trouble. This stays his goal even after he finds her dead. He’s unraveling a plot, not seeking retribution. When he finds who is ultimately responsible, he lets the adults take them down.
MICHELE: There are a few fight scenes that you wonder how the hell he survived. I think Brendan is a good manipulator- take how he gets Brain to act as his eyes & ears for everything, uses Dode to get his messages across. However, you get a bit frustrated by some of his manipulations that leave others, while no means purely innocent, dead. Such is the end scene, where all major players in the drug ring wind up dead. And the one responsible still succeeds.
Brick is successful, just on the storyline alone. While it is a “teen” movie, the characters could easily be 20something or grandparents (although the plot would move much slower. This is a lower budget film, but that actually works to its advantage. Scenes are stark- bedrooms are just a light, bed and telephone, office is just a desk, chair & eagle statue. It flows well with the film noir feel.
ALEX: Yes, there is a pretty major massacre towards the end of the film, but it wasn’t a result of Brendan’s manipulations. The titular “Brick” of heroin was stolen by the person responsible for the whole mess, which triggered a gang war - all inside a normal suburban house. Brendan even put himself at risk to avoid violence by offering to shoot up from the potentially contaminated brick. He did however turn his back on a one-time ally, resulting in his death. It’s debatable of course whether or not he could have helped at all though.
MICHELE: No matter whom you consider responsible for the overall deaths, Brick is a movie worth watching. It challenges traditional film story lines and it challenges your own thinking about what satisfies your movie cravings. If you are looking for a mindless teen drama, stay home. But if you are looking for an updated vision on an old style, it is worth standing in line for.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:34 am
Nice review kids!
I plan to see this.
April 8th, 2006 at 7:37 am
It just occurred to me what an awesome little touch it was that he was always wearing that beige jacket with the collar popped up. Obviously trying to hint at a trenchcoat, but without making a big deal out of it. Sweet.
April 10th, 2006 at 7:49 am
Coleman hooked you up!