Brick

Brick

Film Noir high has tons of appeal.

Rian Johnson has taken the rugged Film Noir genre made famous by such films as the Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep and applied it into a high school setting. An intriguing concept sure, but is it really all that viable? Well, yes, in more ways than you may think, and that's what's so clever about the idea. In a society in which teenagers (seemingly more now than in recent memory) have been continuously scrutinized and under a microscope for their actions and decisions, Rian Johnson presents the material that is long attached to being a part of youth culture and takes advantage of it by setting it in a world full of gangsters, bad habits, heartbreakers and backstabbers. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the assertive "detective" role of Brendan, with The Brain (played by Matt O'Leary) serving as his right-hand man. With a supporting cast full of very well written characters, Johnson paints a convincing world of deception that exists so readily that it's almost self-reflexive in that every character literally narrates each of their moves. As the entire events of the world unfold with each running minute of the film, Brendan's growth from being the edgy outcast to eventually becoming the ultimate inside man and mastermind behind the whole story. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, just like any other whodunit, to keep you interested as well. All in all, this is an incredibly strong showing from Rian Johnson and much of the cast. As such, this is one of the few movies this year that I'd consider a must see.

Overall Rating: 95