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

11 wins & 23 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 Bitterolf	...	Straggler (as Tracy Wilcoxen)
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:

neo noir | alley | cinderblock | high school | tunnel | 

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Taglines:

A detective story.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent and drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 April 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brick

Filming Locations:

San Clemente, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$475,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$83,574, 2 April 2006

Gross USA:

$2,060,589

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

Haas and Levitt later worked together in "Inception."

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Goofs

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.

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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

Referenced in Cleanflix (2009)

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Soundtracks

The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze
from "The Mikado"
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert
Arranged by Renato Neto
Performed by Nora Zehetner

User Reviews

Saw the film at a screening, I'm telling all my friends...

An instant classic. At once, it demands respect for its efforts. Creating an original film amidst the money-press-like formulaic cookie-cutters is reminiscent an act of rebellion against "the man", and this film has done a beautiful job of sticking it to 'em.

This is just an example of how a movie should be made, and I don't say things like that lightly.

Hell, you know it's going to be interesting when Neilson can only compare and contrast it with things like Memento and Donnie Darko on their little questionnaire. Rock on for intelligent life out there, keep it coming! I for one can't wait till it's released so I can watch for the things I know I missed! -Cognac