"Brick" is a lot of fun if you are familiar with the genre it is parodying. It takes a 1940s film noir -- the kind that would have starred Humphrey Bogart -- and transplants it to an unnamed suburban California high school. A murder takes place, and our anti-hero, who was in love with the murdered girl, sets out to solve the crime, untangling a web of corruption and deceit as he moves along. Rian Johnson has created a visually unique film with a great sense of humour about it. Instead of the sleazy underworld of an American big city, we see instead the sleazy underworld of an American high school, where all the kids talk in the kind of clipped dialogue you would normally find in pulp detective novels, and where they meet for major drug deals in their parents' basements while the parents themselves serve them apple juice upstairs in the kitchen.
If I can't wholeheartedly recommend "Brick," it's because Johnson sacrifices clarity in his efforts to be clever. The plot is very hard to follow, and much of the time, important information is mumbled so quickly by the actors that you can't understand what they're saying. Therefore, it was hard to get engrossed in the story, and it's hard to completely love any movie when you feel lost while watching it. I greatly appreciated what Johnson was trying to do, but the whole thing felt like more of a stunt than a film.
However, it's certainly worth a look, especially for lovers of film noir.
Grade: B
If I can't wholeheartedly recommend "Brick," it's because Johnson sacrifices clarity in his efforts to be clever. The plot is very hard to follow, and much of the time, important information is mumbled so quickly by the actors that you can't understand what they're saying. Therefore, it was hard to get engrossed in the story, and it's hard to completely love any movie when you feel lost while watching it. I greatly appreciated what Johnson was trying to do, but the whole thing felt like more of a stunt than a film.
However, it's certainly worth a look, especially for lovers of film noir.
Grade: B