Solid as a Brick

Brick, first of all, was a really low budget film made in 2005, but didn't really get any exposure until this summer. And it's a damn shame, too.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock from the Sun) stars in the film as a highschool "detective". He's a face most people would recognize but not know his name, which I think works really well for the film. His solid acting helps keep the film together, although the supporting cast doesn't really slouch either.

The film details a murder of his ex-girlfriend, which inevitably leads him to the underground world of cocaine (ie: Brick) which is ran through it seems like people that are either seniors in highschool or just graduated. Although that part of the plot seems kind of ridiculous (that 18 year olds could run that), it's really one of the very few flaws of the film, and it still fits.

The dialogue of Brick is sharp, as the film is pushed on by the script rather than the camera. The action is more cued by character's conversations instead of their movements, which I'm not always a big fan of, but it still works here. The only gaff I found was that all the characters, especially Pin and Brendan, talk really quick, so if you're not paying attention or space out for a few minutes (like I did at one point), you'll miss a swath of information and find yourself confused for awhile. This quick-talking is of course a homage to the film-noirs in American cinema from the late 40's and early 50's, where everyone spoke a billion miles an hour. In many ways, Brick is a throwback to those classic films, specifically in dialogue and action cues. And it still works.

The highschool setting seems a bit off-putting for a film-noir, but again, the plot demands it and it still works. The adult supervision (which is usually lacking in most films about teen-adventure) is actually THERE, but the fragile balance is maintained so what the characters do doesn't seem ridiculous.

One character that I absolutely found to be the most believeable was Tugger. Not only did he surprise me, but as the hothead bodyguard, his actions and what he said was completely justified in the film. He didn't step outside of his character, which can be found frequently in teen-films (and frankly, sucks).

The shots of the film were also well put together, which once again was a nice surprise for a low budget flick. Director Rian Johnson did a standup job balancing artistic shots with the standard, so every now and then, the audience with a keen eye get a treat. A few specifically stick out in my mind, one of a close up of Brendan's face on the right side of the screen as a car rushes by, and another of Tugger, Pin, and Brendan in a basement looking up at the cieling listening to noises. Both of those definitely convey a message during the action, which jump in place to the character's words (these specific shots have no dialogue). It's there where the audience can just get into the heads of the characters, and there's many shots like that.

All in all, one could never guess this film was made on a budget of only 500K. It grossed only 2 million (US) and about 600K (UK), but that's still a smash success for such a little film.

If you ever see this film around and are a fan of mysteries, I highly recommend Brick... but just don't space out. You'll probably need to watch it twice.

-Mark

Next: Hard Candy