Review: Brick

       Rian Johnson is the talk of Hollywood right now. People are calling him the next Christopher Nolan. He recently directed the big budget blockbuster Looper, but what was Johnson's Memento, what was the movie that put him on the map. The answer, of course, is Brick, which like Looper also features Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Brick is an interesting film because at it's heart is the old noir capers of the 40s, but instead of taking place in a rainy New York City, the story is transposed to a high school in southern California. Brick is a cool movie that's fun to watch, but I'm still not quite sure that the plot makes much sense. But that's okay, because like most classic noir movies, it doesn't matter if the plot makes sense so long as the characters think it does.

       Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan, a high school student in southern California, who finds his ex-girlfriend, Emily, dead in a drainage ditch. The movie then flashes back to the events leading up that. A phone call from phone booth where Emily asks Brendan to help her out of a bad situation, after Emily has been missing from school for months. Brendan then transforms into a classic noir gumshoe. he has a bespectacled friend who watches and monitors the relationships of the student body to help him keep track of who's involved with who. The principal of the school asks Brendan to stop his investigation, a role traditionally filled by the chief of police in noir films. The film even has a drug kingpin running a criminal organization complete with muscle bound thugs who sometimes try to undermine their boss. There's even a pretty dame who's involved with the mob, but shows her good side by helping out our detective. It's really cool to see all of these old film noir archetypes translated into modern times. The plot maybe a little hard to follow at times, but overall this film is enjoyable.

       What really makes this movie pop is that instead of talking like Orange County high-schoolers, the characters talk like characters from The Maltese Falcon. The characters spout lines like, “I've got all five sense and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you,” and “Act smarter than you look and drop it.” Brick also marks the start of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's success on the big screen, since this movie he has gone on to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars. His work here shows his ability as a capable actor, able to handle himself in this very unique leading role. Lukas Haas also does a great job as the crime boss still living with his mother. I also like the music of this movie, which also helped to enforce the concept of a modern day film noir with slow jazz music that would be right at home in Double Indemnity. The plot is a little overly complex, and my opinion of this film would probably be improved with a second viewing, but I liked this film because it's different from just about everything else being made today.