Review of Brick (2006) by Andrew B — 22 Feb 2011

Brick is, in all honesty, a well made movie. The cinematography is icy cool and paints the world in desaturated open-shade blue; the acting is competent, especially from Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is steadily becoming one of my favorite actors, and the idea of taking a film-noir and setting it inside of the high school social system is a nifty idea.

So, why the low score? The movie thinks it is a lot cooler than it actually is, the characters speak in some sort of 30s-inspired hipster slang that is mostly unintelligible, and, worst of all, the film tries so hard to be in reference to classic film-noir that it ends up feeling like a poor imitation rather than a contemporary classic.

The movie is a big throw-back to classic detective fiction, I get it, it's a neat idea, but there comes a point where you are so referential that you become a wannabe. The bird motif, the femme fatale, self punishment, I get it, and it works up to a point, but do we really need to lift entire sequences of dialogue from The Maltese Falcon? An entire scene from The Maltese Falcon? I don't think so.

Brick is ultimately a lesson in an idea carried too far. Instead of being original and daring, it ends up being derivative and so "look at me I'm cool," that it's embarrassing to watch.