Brick

Rian Johnson’s first endeavor as a director is an impressive one. Johnson, who also doubles as the film’s writer, uses Brick’s minuscule budget of less than $500,000 in a big way, creating a really great modern noir.

Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Brendan Frye, a high school student whose ex-girlfriend was murdered. Discovering clues that not everything is as it seems, he is dragged into a massive underground drug war. All Brendan has to do his keep his head together, figuratively and literally.

What makes Brick such a great film is its intricate plot. A throwback in every way, Johnson rehashes noir authentically, using archetypical noir characters and combining them with typical high school roles. For example, the lead Brendan, usually a detective, is a nerdy loner. While this may appear very far from seamless, once you begin to watch the film, it will be very clear the combination of the roles and how each share tendencies. Another is the bully enforcer, a reimagining of the main baddy’s big tough.

Brick is a brilliant entry into contemporary noir. Its murder mystery is entertaining and a great riddle for the audience to follow Brendan solve. In fact, Levitt is very good in this movie and convincingly plays an intelligent street-tough kid just trying to find out what happened to his girlfriend. He certainly showed his chops in The Lookout. With roles in the upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and (500) Days of Summer, hopefully he will begin to garner the attention he deserves. Also, Rian Johnson, whose second film, The Brothers Bloom, has received critical praise, is showing that he may be the next ‘IT’ director. He guides this film very delicately and while you can foresee where the story could fail, it doesn’t. Considering that it is telling a very big story based on hard boiled noir and confining it to the small world of high school is a considerable feat.

Yet, perhaps his greatest feat is the amazing ability to squeeze every cent worth of his budget and creating a true feature. Brick’s budget hardly shows and many of its in-camera effects are very clever film making and barely noticeable. Watching the film, you’d imagine several millions were invested and not the less than half-million it actually cost, just another testament to the brilliant Johnson’s film making mind.