Good evening.
Continuing in the vein of gushing over things that may have already had their moments in the sun, I wanted to spill my guts a bit about Brick, one of the best films I've stumbled across in a while. A friend recommended it after we realized we shared an admiration for the talents of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer and Inception. He's an ensemble dark horse in Nolan's much-lauded film, and in this directorial debut for Rian Johnson he takes the lead as a high-school gum shoe.
Released in 2007 and written by the director, Brick is the story of Brendan (Levitt) as he investigates the death of a former love Emily, played by Emilie de Ravin (notorious for losing her baby in Lost). The tale centers around the titular brick of heroin and how its tainted nature may have brought about the death of Emily in the seedy underbelly of High School drug wars. As Brendan digs farther and farther into the murky depths of villainy he unravels the mystery one connection at a time. Allegiances are made, morals are compromised, dames are questioned and shots are fired.
To say the movie moved me would be an understatement. In the end...a peace is found, but it's not a happy one. Morality is grey. A superb little film. I wince at my own use of the word 'little' but I mean it only in the sense that this film is a beautiful, small and undiscovered (by mass audience) piece of modern noir storytelling.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff...
Continuing in the vein of gushing over things that may have already had their moments in the sun, I wanted to spill my guts a bit about Brick, one of the best films I've stumbled across in a while. A friend recommended it after we realized we shared an admiration for the talents of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer and Inception. He's an ensemble dark horse in Nolan's much-lauded film, and in this directorial debut for Rian Johnson he takes the lead as a high-school gum shoe.
Released in 2007 and written by the director, Brick is the story of Brendan (Levitt) as he investigates the death of a former love Emily, played by Emilie de Ravin (notorious for losing her baby in Lost). The tale centers around the titular brick of heroin and how its tainted nature may have brought about the death of Emily in the seedy underbelly of High School drug wars. As Brendan digs farther and farther into the murky depths of villainy he unravels the mystery one connection at a time. Allegiances are made, morals are compromised, dames are questioned and shots are fired.
To say the movie moved me would be an understatement. In the end...a peace is found, but it's not a happy one. Morality is grey. A superb little film. I wince at my own use of the word 'little' but I mean it only in the sense that this film is a beautiful, small and undiscovered (by mass audience) piece of modern noir storytelling.
Part of my adoration for Brick may stem from its nature of being quiet and personal, both in my relation to it and its
ability to be close, or human. Johnson created a world with living, breathing characters whose motivations, while not always clear, are certainly organic. When watched in the dark, alone, one is able to pay explicit attention to the wonderfully odd dialogue, a mix of teenagers being verbose and ridiculously hep slang terminology lifted from the noir classics. The vibe? Slick and dark, another primo example of my love of quiet art in the dark.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff...
