 |
|
|
|
Brick (2006)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Matthew 
April 17th, 2006
|  |
When you were in high school you probably participated in at least one play. Either you acted in it or you went to see it. Your fellow students pranced around the stage, displaying their acting talents as they performed Tennessee William's "A Streetcar Named Desire", Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" or the musical "Sound of Music". Since the acting pool was 16 or 17 years old, many students had to play other kids parents and attempt to look older. Sure, it wasn't very convincing, but it fun nice to watch some of the students trying their best, trying to imagine if they had the skill necessary to make it as an adult actor.
"Brick", the new film from writer and director Rian Johnson, is a like watching a high school play, kids playing adult roles. It is amusing and cute, for a while, but doesn't seem natural. When the cuteness wears off, the film becomes a trying exercise.
Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "Mysterious Skin", TV's "Third Rock from the Sun"), the high school 'loner', stumbles across the body of his former girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin, TV's "Lost") in a creek. Distraught, he sets about finding out how she was murdered and why. He eventually finds his way to The Pin (Lukas Haas), the school's crime lord and they form an uneasy alliance.
"Brick" wants to be a modern day take on Film Noir. It's catch? It takes place in the universe of high school kids. The mistake is that it tries to borrow too many of the conventions which made Noir classics like "The Big Sleep" and "Double Indemnity" so great, without adding or creating anything of it's own.
Watching these young adults is amusing for the first half hour or so. As they talk to one another, and Brendan begins to investigate the disappearance of Emily, every line out of their mouth sounds like it was lifted from a play written by Raymond Chandler. Again, amusing but it wears thin. Kids don't talk like this in real life. Unless they have seen a film like "The Big Sleep" and fallen in love with it, watching it hundreds of times, reciting the dialogue in their normal conversations. It just becomes unnatural. Much like watching a teenager pasting a fake moustache and beard on their face so they can play Mark Twain. Do we ever believe they are Mark Twain? No. Do we believe these kids are involved in a murder mystery? No.
The film shows an interesting side of teenage life. Practically all of the exteriors are the backs of places. Many scenes are at the back of the high school attended by Brendan and his classmates. Some of the scenes take place behind a large grocery store in a nondescript strip mall. More scenes take place on a lonely road at the back of a sub development. This stylistic choice gives the film an interesting look and adds to the feeling of the characters, convincingly portraying their feelings of abandonment, isolation and loneliness.
There are also practically no adults in this universe. A few brief scenes with Richard Roundtree as the Vice Principal of the school and a few scenes with The Pin's mother are the only times we see an adult in this universe. Everyone else in "Brick" is a teenager. Very effective are the scenes set in the school. Brendan runs through the school at one point, trying to keep away from a bad guy, running past many classrooms. We hear the classes in progress, but never see any of the teachers instructing the future leaders of tomorrow. This is an effective way of depicting why these kids are in so much trouble. No guidance.
Gordon-Levitt is a good actor. He was amazingly good in "Mysterious Skin" and does good work here. But he can't manage to entirely convince us that he isn't play acting. In fact, it is difficult to understand why he is so determined to find out where Emily is and then when he does, why she was killed. He was her ex-boyfriend, but he doesn't seem particularly enamored of her at any point. He is supposed to be infatuated with her, like she is his one true love. Gimme a break. A seventeen year old boy's one true love? How does he know this?
In fact, there seems to be very little actual threat throughout. He does get punched a number of times, but this could simply be the result of high school life. When the film takes a darker edge, late in the story, it seems as though the filmmaker is finally trying to convince us that these kids are playing in an adult world. Unfortunately, it is too little too late.
It won't fit. Please read the full review at thornhillatthemovies.com
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
