Review of Brick (2006) by Jeff M — 29 Jun 2010

This was my second time to watch this movie, and I think I was able to get a lot more out of it. There's definitely a barrier that you have to get through in the lingo that the characters, particularly Brendan, use. But this second time through, I already had the gist of the plot, so I was able to concentrate on what the characters were actually saying. What a great detective story.

Writing/Plot: Brick borrows so much from classic film noir that it's not truly innovative, save for the fact that all the characters are in high school. Having not seen many of the classic detective stories, though, I think that flaw is lost of me, for the most part. The plot itself is complicated. Each character has his own angle, his own reasons for being involved, but that's a mystery story for you. 1 star.

Acting/Characters: The thing I love about these characters is that they're so well-defined. They serve a specific role: the druggie, the informant, the muscle. But only a few of them are one-dimensional. Most of them have a different side to them. The Pin loves his mother (who allows him to have several huge dudes crowd his basement at four in the morning). Tug can actually calm down and have a conversation once in a while. And luckily, the parts are well-acted. I didn't care for the girls who played Kara and Em, but I thought the others were great. My favorite's gotta be The Brain. 1 star.

Visuals/Cinematography: There aren't really any special effects to speak of, except for a couple of pseudo-dream sequences, but they're not very flashy or anything. The locations are cool. They're all just regular high school areas (hallways, football field, etc.), but with the colors toned down, they're much more somber and serious. And I particularly like Brendan's room. It's like bed, clock, computer, phone, and that's it. Pretty cool. 1 star.

Emotional Resonance: Personally, I love fast, snappy dialogue. My fantasy is to be a part of a conversation where I actually know what to say. So to hear Brendan and The Brain carry on pretty much makes this movie for me. It just strikes the right chord. If that's not really your thing, for some reason, I would imagine that you would still feel an attachment to the characters. I don't know how it couldn't be your thing, though, honestly. 1 star.

Music/Sound: Simplistic, but effective. A lot of times there isn't any music at all, but when it comes in, it really heightens the intensity of the situation. 1 star.

You'll probably only like "Brick" if you have the patience to wade through some slow set-up, but if you're a fan of mysteries, you're probably used to having to wait before you know the whole story. You might want to put subtitles on, though. They talk pretty fast. 5 stars.