Brick (2005)

VERDICT:
8/10 Sketchy Teens

Mix two parts Chinatown, one part The Breakfast Club, bake for two hours, simmer on low, and you’ve got yourself Brick.

It came and went pretty quickly when it was out in theatres, but since the movie’s director, Rian Johnson, is coming out with his latest movie this weekend, The Brothers Bloom, figured this is as good a time as any to review this overlooked gem.

Brick follows Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a high-schooler/private eye in modern-day Midwestern America, as he investigates the unsolved murder of one of his fellow classmates.

Now you might be thinking, “Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid from Third Rock From The Sun?” Yes, that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, not to be mistaken with that other Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He did a couple movies here and there once Third Rock wrapped up, but it wasn’t until a friend suggested this movie to me that I was thoroughly convinced he was capable of playing more than just a quirky teenage alien. Then again, doesn’t seem like a very hard role to break away from to begin with.

I would even go so far as to say he’s one of the best up-and-coming actors out there today. And if you’re not convinced of this by the time you finish watching Brick, then see The Lookout next. The kid can act and he can definitely carry a movie.

After seeing hundreds upon hundreds of movies that have the same story rehashed over and over again, I’ve developed a craving for original, genre-bending movies that try for something different instead of what’s familiar. And if you haven’t picked up on it already, the genres that Brick is comprised of (film noir/detective story with teenagers) usually don’t fit together all that well.

It’s hard to convince someone that a movie where teenagers run underground heroin rings and talk like they’re hardened 40-year-old men who’ve just finished a stint in jail with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney as their cellmates would be anything less than laughably bad. But then again, the fact that Brick takes all these things and makes them all work so well together is what makes this movie that much easier for me to recommend.

Brick is a really cool, really unique movie with a gripping story that’ll keep you guessing until the very end. So if you’re looking for something different with really badass dialogue and acting, then give Brick a look.

It also has one of the best closing credits songs of all time. So that’s cool too.