DVD available at Amazon.com
Writer-Director:
Rian Johnson
Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt……….Brendan
Lukas Haas……….The Pin
Nora Zehetner……….Laura Dannon
Matt O’Leary……….The Brain
Noah Segan……….Dode
Noah Fleiss………Tugger
Emilie de Ravin………Emily Kostach
Meagan Good……….Kara
Focus Features presents Brick. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated R (for violence and drug content). DVD release date: August 8, 2006. MSRP: $29.98.
Brick may be a small word but its allusion makes for a dangerous film noir with a hardheaded protagonist, would-be thugs, and an ominous drug dealer. With its ideally constructed and intricate detective story, it is one of the few original American films so far to be released in 2006. Having been acclaimed at last year’s Sundance for originality of vision, the theatrical release was less than inspired – its widest release was 45 theaters.
This isn’t the type of film noir where the private eye (or is it gumshoe?) sits in his office only to have a beautiful, but probably up to no good, dame knock on his door and ask for help. Writer-director Rian Johnson deftly shows his adoring passion for Dashiell Hammett novels, as his main character is Sam Spade for the high school crowd. But Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is not Spade incarnate, nor is he like Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Boys.
Brendan is a troubled loner who sulks around to the back of the school each day. Perhaps he goes there to contemplate the time spent with his old girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin). They had a falling out some months ago and Brendan hasn’t been the same since. When Emily suddenly disappears, however, he acts as the protector as he pounds the pavement trying to locate her whereabouts. She resurfaces, sprawled out lifelessly in front of a drainage ditch. Now Brendan must drop his brown-bagged lunch and deliver some knuckle sandwiches – and receive some, too – as he forces his way into the bitter underbelly of the high school drug ring. No nickel and dime stuff here.
Far from the film noir conventions, this story breathes a life all its own. Brick retains the attitude of Hammett’s hard-boiled novels, as Rian Johnson manages to adapt the verbiage used and have it expressed in modern settings. Kids who attend this high school say things like, “I’ve got knives in my eyes. I’m going home sick.” Or, in a conversation where the word yeah is used excessively, Brendan breaks up the monotony by saying: “There’s a thesaurus in the library. Yeah is under ‘Y’. Go ahead, I’ll wait.” Unlike a Dawson’s Creek episode full of ten-dollar words, said by twenty-year-old teenagers who aren’t exactly bookish, the discourse in Brick is frank. The students assume the personas of browbeaten and nefarious types from a much earlier time, and play it straight.
Without going into great detail about the plot points or twists, I will admit the crime story is muddled. But it thrives. Brendan uses his street smarts, his fists and laconic remarks as he traces clues and follows Emily’s movements through the school’s drug ring. As he goes deeper inside, the story intensifies, leading to a fulfilling finish.
In the annals of detective stories the hero is only as good as his supporting players. Thankfully, this movie has a number of personalities. Considering the setting, it makes sense. The Watson to Brendan’s Holmes is The Brain (Matt O’Leary), a sidekick who acts his eyes and ears on the outside. The ensemble also consists of a few film noir staples: femme fatales, a crime kingpin (Witness‘s Lukas Haas all grown up), and not-so-smart heavies with names like Tugger and Dode.
Less than the catering costs of a big budget movie, Rian Johnson, much like his protagonist Brendan, used his smarts to get this project off the ground. He finished the script just out of film school in 1997. The archetypes of the characters on the page could have only come from a man who is deeply committed to film noir and hard-boiled stories, which Johnson is. He also takes full advantage of camera angles and shot selections. In certain scenes he’ll track low then quickly cut to a high angle shot. A little off kilter, it tries to be like those films it aspires to be. Resourceful, he even created the movie’s brooding score by using common household items – the clanging of kitchen utensils.
Despite Johnson’s inventiveness, Brick has one fallacy. Its target audience is not defined. Who is supposed to watch this movie? The setting is a high school, but the film is so far removed from the typical teen flick. Some teenage moviegoers probably aren’t familiar with noir, films like Double Indemnity, or classic stars like Gene Tierney. It may not matter. You still have a basic crime story beneath the cloak of terse dialogue and ambiance. But without those elements, it would lack fulfillment. So, once the audience comprehends that this movie, whose characters are all on the same wavelength, is a fusion of drama and pulp fiction, then they can revel and enjoy its peculiarity.
THE VIDEO
(Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen)
The setting is sunny California, and yet some of the scenes are lowly-lit or set against opaque objects (a row of lockers, a sparsely furnished room, or a drainage ditch). This is the California you won’t find in the travel brochures. The kind novelists like Michael Connelly elaborate with aplomb as they live and breathe in the City of Angeles. As far as the video transfer, no noticeable problems with the print – dirt or visual artifacts. The blacks are rich, especially Tug’s Ford Mustang, and the image remains clean throughout the feature.
THE AUDIO
(English – Dolby Digital 5.1)
Although sporting a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this is where shooting on a shoestring budget can prove costly. The audio is appropriate, but is sometimes too soft during monologues or scenes with long conversations. So if you find yourself turning up the volume on more than one occasion, beware of sound effects (i.e., gunshots) because it may startle you a little. Such is one of the misfortunes of not having proper sound equipment or engineers on set. Thank goodness for optional English subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
A hit at Sundance, non-existent in theaters, Brick arrives on DVD with a modest assortment of extras. Though, it pales in comparison to the abundant UK edition. What is included should appease fans of the film.
Rian Johnson’s commentary track, in which actors Noah Segan and Nora Zehetner, producer Ram Bergman, production designer Jodie Tillen and costume designer Michael Posch are heard throughout, is the cherry on top. Part scene-specific, part trip down memory lane, the participants expresses their involvement with the film. Johnson begins telling us how he was influenced by the works of Dashiell Hammett and films like Miller’s Crossing and Chinatown. For aspiring filmmakers he explains his “trash bag” visual effect, which is neat and cheap, too. Among other topics are the reactions Brick got from teenagers during festival screenings. It was a love-hate thing.
Eight deleted and extended scenes, viewed separately or all together (22 minutes in all), feature introductions by Johnson. As he talks over production stills and cutting room floor footage, Johnson explains that the scenes were merely trims. Since they were stretched to the gills as it was, they couldn’t afford to delete scenes outright. It is also during these scenes that he admits sound problems during the production.
The last featurette, The Inside Track: Casting the Roles of Laura and Dode (3:12), is essentially two audition tapes back to back.
THE INSIDE PULSE
Brick is so different from traditional film noir that it seems so original. Who would have ever thought to set a pulp story around a high school, and have the characters speak the verbiage of films produced some seventy years ago? Rian Johnson is a director to keep an eye on. If he can make a sleeper like this with shoestring resources, just imagine what he can deliver with a budget. Brick is a good film waiting to be discovered on DVD. Highly recommended.
