Review of Brick (2006) by Joe C — 13 Aug 2011

There's a reason films noir always center around adults dealing with complex problems and existential dread (usually at once): Teenagers don't lead lives nearly interesting enough to convincingly embody the archetypes of the genre, nor do they convincingly possess the skills needed to enter the world of crime and rank with any degree of believability. Not even "Brick's" introduction of high school drug rings; femmes fatale angling both for prom queen an easy, ill-gotten money; and parents' basement-dwelling crime lords quite makes the transition work.

The cast of "Brick" tries its damnedest, though, and many successfully pull it off. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lukas Haas capably tackle roles very, very atypical for their age, making the case that morally ambiguous gumshoes like Sam Spade (Gordon-Levitt) and sinister heels like Eddie Mars (Haas) could lose about 20 years in age, return to high school and still carry on the loaded tete-a-tetes and double-crossing they were born to do as adults.

The real weakness of "Brick," though, is the story; it tries to be too much. Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) is a social outcast who attempts to infiltrate the criminal social cliques he used to be a part of when his ex-girlfriend (Emilie De Ravin) turns up dead face-down in an aqueduct. Brendan's investigation takes him among the ranks of street-fighting jocks, perpetually stoned goth wannabes who call back alleys their home, among the scheming rich kids presided over by mercurial queen pin Laura (Nora Zehetner), face-to-face with a bullying local enforcer (Noah Fleiss) and into the quaint suburban home of a crippled drug-slinging mastermind (Haas).

"Brick" tries out many different outfits, and writer/director Rian Johnson doesn't seem satisfied with any of them to commit fully. The film begins as a murder mystery (a legitimately compelling one at that), sidesteps awkwardly into a quasi-undercover cop tale (with Richard Roundtree as, effectively, the displeased captain), then stumbles somewhat abruptly into a crime syndicate drama in which Brendan attempts to play the brainy ringleader (Haas' Pin) against the psychotic underling (Fleiss' Tug) and his band of fellow thugs (all of whom dress in white wifebeaters, jeans and dew-rags). And, because Johnson doesn't stick to one storytelling M.O. and follow it, the audience is similarly frustrated by the film's lack of coherence.