Winner of the Special Jury Prize for originality of vision at last years Sundance Film Festival, Rian Johnson’s Brick garnered heaps of praise for its re-imagining of a classic film noir set in a modern day high school, and while its conceit sounds promising, the final product leaves a lot to be desired. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Brendan, a high school loner trying to solve the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin), who’s unfortunate death is connected to a host of sordid characters lurking at the periphery. Naturally, just like the classic film noirs it tries to emulate, Brick details Harry’s search with conventional must-haves: detached cynicism, strange characters, a brooding anti-hero, the femme fatale, and the inevitable violent conclusion. However, somewhere during its running time it becomes apparent that the story Johnson has lain out is nothing more than an exercise, and unfortunately a dull one at that. Despite the creative language (some of the words are completely made up, leading to a dictionary of sorts on the film’s website) and Steve Yedlin’s moody but elegant cinematography, where the film fails to engage is in its story and characters. Apparently, all that’s needed in creating an interesting main character is constantly placing him in scenarios where he is repeatedly punched in the face. And while Brendan’s dogged pursuit is admirable, there’s nothing much in the process to keep us engaged. No matter how many times Levitt stuffs his hands into his pockets in a desperate attempt to channel Bogart’s Sam Spade, his mannerisms never amount to much of anything other than lacklustre mimicry. Johnson’s script relies simply on its inventive wordplay and setting, and by the time Brendan meets with the enigmatic heroin-pusher, The Pin (played by Lukas Haas), initial interest wanes at the lack of an interesting narrative. That’s not to say, though, that the film doesn’t occasionally engage. The sequence where our tenacious gumshoe has to outrun a knife-wielding heavy through the school hallways is an inspired work of filmmaking, relying on carefully constructed sound design, editing and camera work. While film noir can occasionally get away with generic plots and stylized characterizations, what keeps them unique and interesting is their ability – through narrative drive and character – to highlight a world that is at once foreign and strangely familiar. The high school setting would have been the perfect staging ground for a modern noir, but Brick is less Body Heat and more like The Last Seduction 2.
Richard Saad
© Cinephile Magazine, 2006