high school confidential

Brick




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Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O'Leary, Noah Segan and Emile de Ravin

When I was in high school, my life was pretty simple. I read a lot. I ate a lot of chicken burgers. I played a lot of cards, and I skipped a lot of classes to do so. My high school life was nothing like what these poor kids in Brick go through. Brick is like, if David Lynch directed John Hughes' bratpack in a movie with a plot like a '50s pulp novel.

Now, I jest, but this movie is fantastic. I can honestly say that I haven't seen many movies that could be called film noir. I know enough about movies to pick them out, I just haven't watched any. But this movie has more of a pulpy feel that most whodunnits that Hollywood cranks out. I guess that's why movies like this only get made as indie flicks and they save the big stars and the poor scripts for the big wigs.

When Brendan's best girl turns up dead, he goes on a mission to find out who did it. Along the way, he runs into many stumbling blocks and dead ends, but also a cast of colourful characters like The Pin, Tug, Dode and The Brain.

The resources that these kids have and the lives they lead are insane. But I can honestly say I've never seen a murder mystery set in the confines of high school life, but director Rion Johnson has managed to do it, and do it well. This movie has the feel and look of Memento but isn't a copycat film at all. Its original and fresh and solidifies Rion Johnson as a great new writer/director.

This movie is well worth checking out. It is mysterious, artsy, well acted and directed and is everything one would want in a murder mystery.