Brick (2005)

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer (WGA):

Rian Johnson (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (Canada)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

A detective story.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

High School | Drug Dealer | Drugs | Drug Overdose | Detective

Awards:

9 wins & 11 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 J. White	...	Brad Bramish (as Brian White)
Jonathan Cauff	...	Biff
Reedy Gibbs	...	Pin's Mom
Lucas Babin	...	Big Stoner
Tracy Wilcoxen	...	Straggler
Ari Welkom	...	Tangles (as Ari Velkom)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent and drug content.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Netherlands:12 | USA:R (certificate #41781) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Japan:R-15 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

San Clemente, California, USA

Company:

Bergman Lustig Productions

Trivia:

The music score was composed by Rian Johnson's cousin, Nathan Johnson, with additional support and music from The Cinematic Underground. The score hearkens back to the style, feel and overall texture of noir films. It features traditional instruments such as the piano, trumpet and violin, and also contains unique and invented instruments such as the wine-o-phone, metallophone, tack pianos, filing cabinets, and kitchen utensils, all recorded with one microphone on a beat-up Apple PowerBook. Since Nathan Johnson was in England during most of the production process, the score was composed almost entirely over Apple iChat, with Rian Johnson playing clips of the movie to Nathan Johnson, who would then score them. The two later met in New York to mix the soundtrack.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Brendan's confrontation with Dode in the football field, he falls on the grass and briefly passes out. When he wakes up and hears Laura's horn, his clothing is dirty. When he reaches the tunnel to meet with Tug, The Pin, and Dode, his clothing is clean.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Heat (1995)

Soundtrack:

Frankie & Johnny

Bugsy Malone goes to high school

'Brick' is a film noir murder mystery featuring contemporary high school students who talk and behave like 1940's-style gangsters.

I hastily bought a ticket to 'Brick' at the Sundance Film Festival, knowing nothing about it but what was written in the Sundance catalog. I almost didn't go to the 9:15am screening but I am so glad I did. 'Brick' was by far the best of the eight films I'd seen up until then. It's one of those rare movies that keeps me grinning throughout, delighted by every turn of the grim plot.

The slang is thick but contextual. Watch closely for little camera tricks like a clock that reads 5:45 until it comes into focus and suddenly reads 8:30.