Paperjam

Brick

Film // Jim // 19th June 2006

In all the excitement of my non-stop, hedonistic, smoking crack with supermodels while skydiving lifestyle, I forgot to review this a few weeks back. Brick is a "Just how much more black could it be?" film noir mystery played out by a bunch of American high school students and starring the kid out of Third Rock From The Sun. Sounds absolutely terrible doesn't it?

Well, actually it is great; really mean spirited, slow burning and rather dream-like. The film revolves around a young man's search for his ex-girlfriend after he receives a suitably cryptic distress message. The cryptic stuff doesn't end there, with the whole cast talking in some kind of 50's throwback slang, which should jar horribly, but doesn't. The plot describes a web of drugs, crime, jealousy and revenge and reminded me of many things (A Fistfull Of Dollars, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) without specifically resembling any of them.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan is excellent, delivering hard-boiled, couldn't give a fuck, sarcasm (in a way that I have attempted to perfect for years), while getting his head badly kicked in every five minutes (which I managed to perfect at an early age). He seems to have made the transition from child star to actor fairly successfully and if it doesn't work out he could certainly have crack at a career as a runner.

Brick now seems to be playing at a few more places, I definitely recommend you try to catch it at the cinema, just don't ask too many questions like: Where are all the other parents? What is the obsession with footwear? and How on earth did they get that chandelier in the back of the van?