Brick (2005)

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer:

Rian Johnson

Stars:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin

10 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Brendan
Nora Zehetner	...	Laura
Lukas Haas	...	The Pin
Noah Fleiss	...	Tugger
Matt O'Leary	...	The Brain
Emilie de Ravin	...	Emily (as Emilie De Ravin)
Noah Segan	...	Dode
Richard Roundtree	...	Assistant V.P. Trueman
Meagan Good	...	Kara
Brian White	...	Brad Bramish
Jonathan Cauff	...	Biff
Reedy Gibbs	...	Pin's Mom
Lucas Babin	...	Big Stoner
Tracy Wilcoxen	...	Straggler
Ari Welkom	...	Tangles (as Ari Velkom)

Storyline

The lonely teenager Brendan finds his former girlfriend Emily dead in the entrance of a tunnel of sewage and recalls her phone call two days ago, when she said to him that she was in trouble. Brendan, who still loved Emily, met bad elements of his high-school trying to contact her, and when he succeeded, she told him that she was OK. He hides her body in the tunnel and decides to investigate the meaning and connection of four words, including "brick" and "pin", that Emily told him to find who killed her. Using the support of his nerd friend Brain, he successively meets the small time drug dealers Kara, Dode, Brad Bramish, Laura and Tugger, to reach the teenager powerful drug dealer The Pin. Slowly, Brendan unravels the motives why Emily was killed and plots a revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | drug dealer | tunnel | drugs | detective | 

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Taglines:

A detective story.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent and drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (Canada)

Also Known As:

A Ponta de um Crime

Filming Locations:

San Clemente, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$475,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$31,411 (New Zealand) (13 October 2006)

Gross:

$99,056 (New Zealand) (13 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bergman Lustig Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lack of classroom scenes in this high school film was much commented after the movie's release. While there originally was a scene set in Brendan's classroom, Rian Johnson had to re-write it to avoid a location change. This scene was the one where Brendan goes through the notebook he takes from Emily when they meet; in the original script, this happened while a teacher explains something in the background.

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Goofs

Brendan's hair is curly in all scenes but one near the start, where it's straight.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Brendan answers the pay phone]
Emily: Brendan.
Brendan Frye: Emily.
Emily: Yeah-h... How's things?
Brendan Frye: Status quo.

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Connections

References Rififi (1955)

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Soundtracks

"Frankie & Johnny"
Performed by Bunny Berigan
Courtesy of SOUNDIES Inc. by arrangement with Sugaroo!

User Reviews

Brilliant modern day Film Noir with color, drugs and a twist

That's the story, right? Going back to the days of "China Town" with Jack Nicholson chasing lead after lead, turning corners left and right, only to find more corners. Who's duping who? We don't know until the very end in this fast-paced, hipster lingo drenched wild revival of the classic Black and White Film Noir. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes, the kid from Third Rock) is a brilliant hero/foil as Brendan, the bitingly dry, quick-witted, scrappy and yet reluctant detective trying to walk his way through a web of lies, more lies, murder and lots of missing drugs. His character is bright, he can read a situation like a psychic on crack, turn things to his favor in seconds and play people as deftly as he is ultimately played himself. ...And he can take a punch. The plot turns this way, then that, keeping you constantly guessing as to where it will take you next. As soon as you think you know what's going on, you don't. Nora Zehetner is a beautiful and beguiling femme fatale. "The Brian" (Matt O'Leary), who is constantly feeding Brendan his facts and keeping him on track, knows his stuff but never let's you know how. Rian Johnson has written an amazing script and directed it into a whirlwind experience of near misses, painful betrayal and love/love lost. The lingo takes a second to catch. I'm reminded of Swingers, had it been as thrilling as it was funny. The words fall into place and give the film a slick, quick delivery like the best exchanges between Bogart and Bergman, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Take all that and drop it into a dark, starkly brutal modern world... In a high school, of all places. There's even some quirky humor thrown in, though most of the laughs from the audience were really nervous release from all the tension built into the story. A must see.