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Brick Movie Review

Brick is a 2005 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Rian Johnson in his directorial debut. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It’s such an overrated flick.

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“Maybe I’ll just sit here and bleed at you“

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Brendan Frye, a high school student, leads a lonely life after a breakup with his girlfriend. Later, he learns about the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and decides to investigate the case. This was the movie that brought Rian Johnson to the map. This is the film that led to his ‘Last Jedi’ gig. And frankly I did not see the potential and I disagree with the raving reviews.

He would become much better in later movies, though some of his stylish directing is evident here, especially in the movie’s intriguing cinematography and some very interesting action sequences. But for the most part the film was rather pedestrian and boring to me as somebody who doesn’t like neo-noir.

It’s a personal taste issue, but I find neo-noir films infinitely inferior to their grandfathers from the forties. This one actually did try to replicate that noir feel through some memorable dialogue and stylish technicalities, but the dialogue ended up being more annoying than anything else as the slang is insufferable.

I also could not believe this storyline in the slightest as it revolved around teenagers, which did make it contemporary I guess, but it also made it very implausible and also unrelatable. The worst thing about the movie is that it has a very weak screenplay, the type of story that doesn’t hook you in and I certainly never cared about who the villain is.

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Brick features a terrific performance from then very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He was great here, but others obviously weren’t in his league and they were all forgettable. The mystery elements were interesting only at first as later down the line the movie was rather tedious to me. And I simply could not relate nor could I sympathize with any of the characters as Brick is surprisingly distant emotionally speaking, never making you care you wish to get invested in the story.

Brick was Rian Johnson’s debut feature. I love the guy, but this movie was not my cup of tea. The stylish cinematography was interesting and the film was initially intriguing in its mystery, but eventually it became pedestrian, boring and highly forgettable. It is also emotionally distant, never making you care for the characters or the story. It’s another neo-noir that just did not appeal to me.

My Rating – 2.5