Brick

It might be the fact that I am graduating from high school and feeling nostalgic, but I am reviewing another movie set in high school... well, sort of. This movie takes all thats characteristic of noir films and throws it into high school (which I love because other than lockers and a police captain-like vice principal, there is nothing high school about it).

When I was telling a family member that I was going to review Brick next, he paused for a moment and said, "Yeah, I saw that a while ago... It's got a great plot, and cast, and dialogue... Now that I come to think of it, it has a great everything. I can't remember not liking one aspect of it." I think that sums Brick up perfectly; it's a great film but also very subtle which I think is it's biggest strength as a noir. When you think about it, you remember one aspect of the movie and then the flood gates open with all the different facets that make Brick good.

Brick follows a kid named Brendan who, after a cryptic call from his ex-girlfriend, navigates the underworld of high school trying to figure out what has happened to her. This film has an Inferno-like quality to it as the protagonist must go deeper and deeper into the different bizarre sects of high school to get to the truth.

The reason a noir of this caliber works in a high school setting is because it, like Heathers, does not look down on its characters (and audience) and make them behave like children; on the contrary, they all act like hardened adults. Brick's setting in high school makes the movie play on a deeper level. The whole film acts as an metaphor for the brutality of high school and how kids view everything as life or death situations, except in Brick, it is life or death. I've seen people criticize the film for its melodrama, but it's definitely there for a reason and they're kind of missing the point. One, because all noir films have those cliched moments and two, because high school is completely melodramatic.

My favorite thing about Brick has to be the dialogue. There is this insane flow and almost poetic rhythm to it that feels like it lies somewhere between Shakespeare and hip-hop. Exposition is always hard and, when done poorly, tends to be boring and breaks the pace of the film and noirs are bound to be chock-full of it but the whip-fast delivery always makes Brick exciting to watch. The superb casting of Brick also makes difficult, full-bodied dialogue seem effortless and natural.

The mark of a good score is that you don't notice it until after a couple of viewings when you're looking for details; it's meant to enhance the viewing not distract the viewer. Brick's score is absolutely perfect in this sense as most people I talk to who have watched it don't really remember, and even now I can remember only the gist of it, but do remember the darker tone of the movie and I think the inventive score definitely contributes to that.

Categories of note:
Dialogue
Score
Cinematography
Direction
Cast

Parent Watchability: There is some violence, but it has this cartoon quality which I completely love. But, violence is violence so I would avoid watching with the younger ones.

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