Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation.
Film noir set in highschool. This is the best way to describe exactly what Brick is. It's comperable to The Maltese Faclon meets the Breakfast Club...Chinatown meets Heathers...Does this result in a great film though?
Brick is the story of a teenager, Brendan, who is attempting to get at the bottom of an ex-flames disapearence. He trys and trys to get to the bottom of it, and as he does, he urnavels a tale of drugs, lost love, and murder. Thats really all I want to say, or really can say without ruining anything, so lets get down to the review.
First off, let me get this out of the way. I've seen this flick a few times, and this review is based on my last viewing. What I mean by that, is that this film gets better, and the viewer gets more after every viewing. The biggest inovation about this film is the dialouge. Just like basic film noirs, it has stylized dialouge, but here, it's damn near a new language. However, it's not so over the top and out there, that you can't understand it, but it is a little difficult to get used to, if you are not acustomed to noir dialouge. It's a real blast to listen too, and works amazing in this film. Also, the look of the film is amazing. It was made for right around 500,000 bucks, by a guy named Rian Johnson, who will later this year be releasing The Brother's Bloom, a con movie that I have right near the top of my most anticipated films list. And Brick is the reason why. This film is amazing. It's a smaller film, so it doesn't have the most amazing pallette, but this film is all about the editing. From the fades into and out of focus on a clock to show a passage of time, to garbage bags siginifiying something bad is happening, it's a stunning film, even on the low cost. Also, with the dialouge comes these performances, and all of which are really top notch, especially in the lead. All the performances are great, and they all give this dialouge a true voice and style. The story is completly compelling, and it will really keep you into this story, even if you are a little lost with the dialouge. And this film truly gets at what it's like in highschool, but in a very stylized way. Not so much in the content, but in the characters and their emotions and mentality.
This is almost a perfect film, and really, I can't think of something bad to say. The performance of Brad Bramish is annoying as hell, but it fits the type of character he plays. Also, it can be really rough to completly understand if you don't pay complete attention to it, and even if you do, the dialouge can lose you easily. However, if you just pay a little attention, than you should have some fun with this amazing addition to the cannon of recent new age noir films such as Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and Sin City. Please, if you know what's good for you, you will give this great film a chance. You won't be sorry.
Brick - 9/10
Alright, so tomorow will be the last post or posts here until Sunday afternoon, as I am taking a little hiatus out to Duffstock to hang out with some friends and just relax for a few days. I'm still going to try to see Wanted or Wall-E, so if I do, you can expect a full review of those on Sunday. Also, I was thinking of maybe starting something like a marathon kind of thing, but it would be like a DVD a week, for a month, based on a genre or style. It's just an idea, but it could be cool, so expect something to that end starting in July.
Thats all! Go see something good!
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