Review of Brick (2006) by David S — 20 Apr 2012

The noir aspects of this film are not mistakes; this is a wonderful injection of it into modern teen culture and its gritty underbelly.

More importantly, it's a brilliant marriage, as the director cleverly discerns that certain similarities between the two contexts mix like chocolate and peanut butter. Even better, it's not some cynical, disengaged homage - it's spellbinding and smart in its dialogue and whip-fast in its plot twists and turns of phrase. It's a bold concept, and I'd place it in the canon for any lover of modern noir takes, right next to The Man Who Wasn't There and ChinaTown. But unlike those movies, I was captivated by the action and the twists - rather than merely trying to unlock it, like a puzzle, I felt a real connection to the characters.

This is perhaps where a large part of its craft lies. Too much, noir gets pegged as being about 40s-era cars, men in plain suits, and black-and-white film. The director here has correctly hacked off such superficial nonsense and has given us instead what was entertaining about noir films in the first place - normal joe characters mixed up in trouble or a bad crowd, the consequences of dark doings outside of the public eye, the chess game of wits between the good guy and the usual suspects, and the snappy, over-the-top dialog that packs a punch while managing to amuse - not to mention stark, dimly-lit scenes with a touch of gritty violence. Well, this film hit it on the nose.