Brick

Highschool detective drama following hard-boiled Joseph Gordon "Marlowe" as he investigates the disappearance of his ex fresh off the back of their break up. Its low budget doesn't limit it, oozing style & a well-utilised score, with Rian Johnson making great use of the camera to suck you in and create an atmosphere far from what you'd expect for the setting. Being his debut, there's not much to suggest that Rian was an amateur, other than a script that perhaps gets a little too ahead of itself.

A really amazing debut from Rian Johnson, fantastic script.

Original and risky, but ultimately falls on its face after a few successful turns around the block. Great premise, but impossible to sustain over a two-hour period. Long outstays its welcome.

Great script.

Outstanding film.

From these awkwardly edited fist fights to TLJ's throne room battle. You're gonna do great things Rian. For now, maybe don't cram the entirety of the main mystery clues into the last ten minutes. Mystery is enthralling because its inviting and lets us all be detectives, not because of the ostensible coolness of obfuscating what could be deemed too easy. Don't assume we like your characters cuz they're "mysterious", and never write a mystery story like said characters.

A smug, one-dimensional genre experiment that never once transcends its gimmick.

Amazing movie! I love it!!!

The idea of this film on paper doesn't look like it should work. Crime noir as seen through the lense of high school life. If that's all I'd heard about this film I would have scoffed and passed it by. Damn, I'm glad I didn't. This movie not only works on every level I could ask for, but also oozes with style and little winks to the good ol' Noir films of the past. What a great, great, great film.

An excellent 40s-style gangster movie, except it's set in SoCal, and all the gangsters are high schoolers. Brilliant.

I would have never thought that the genres of noir and high school drama could go so well together. The soundtrack is flawless and the acting is peculiar in an indescribable way that somehow enhances the whole. The plot isn't especially distinguished but, I think, it doesn't need to be; it's the stylistic choices that make this movie what it is.

One of my favorite movies. A terrific performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He plays the cool, detective type perfectly. Rian Johnson wrote some amazing dialogue for this movie, too. It may take a second viewing to completely digest.

This movie is no masterpiece. But - then again - a true masterpiece only comes along once? Twice a decade? It tries a little too hard to be hipper than it is, particularly through dialogue that smacks of effort. Plot was ok, but I just didn't buy into alot of it.

a MUST see! What a great movie

really good first time no budget film. original execution of familiar material.

A homage to film noir. I haven't really watched many film noir movies but watching a modernized version of it made me pretty interested in them. I'd like to check more out. Joseph Gordon Levitt is great as always.

Plot too complicated and I found the dialogue difficult to follow. The most enjoyable part of this film for me was watching the main character continually get beaten up!

High school noir, very amusing.

Spent a lot of this movie wondering what was going on and why, but not in a good way. Much of the dialogue was unintelligible, maybe it needs anther watch knowing that its a film noir homage. JGL was good.

When you're young, breaking up might seem like the end of the world. Really, you just don't know any better.

I love the idea, like, a lot, but mostly this was just too weird for me to really enjoy. The dialogue was cool, but got tiresome.

I thought this was the most original movie of 2006 so far. I loved the noir elements set in high school. Overall I was very impressed and enjoyed it a lot.

Such a cool film. Dark, interesting, and pretty jaw dropping. A wonderful murder mystery.

Excellent tribute to the noir genre. Hard-boiled type protagonist, and the typical twists, turns and double crosses that come with the territory. Great slant on the dialogue to fit the set.

I thought this film would be good, but the style really annoyed me. It's certainly original. The characters in the film are high school kids, but they talk like characters from a film noir movie. I got bored and ended up turning it off about 10 minutes before the end. If the characters don't annoy you as much as they did with me then you may like this film.

A Noir mystery set in a contemporary high school setting. This movie gets pretty intense and is full of shots where one wonders "wait, was that just a coincidence or was that scripted?" Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the main character role perfectly.

Excellent take on the noir genre but it lacks anything resembling a sense of humor.

Film Noir Babies, we make our dreams come true. Film Noir Babies, we'll do the same for you.

Not bad. Actually, real enjoyable. Brick came across as schmaltzy at times, but for the most part it kept me interested & was well shot. The characters were entirely unbelievable & that was part of the attraction. A true noir fan would shudder, though.

Has a TV-show feel to it, probably in part due to the tiny budget, which was neither good nor bad, simply different. I liked the soundtrack. It had Twin Peaks vibes. A pretty ridiculous concept and the main character is mysteriously extremely adept at playing both detective & street brawler, but it was entertaining throughout.

Difficult to understand the dialogue, but overall an enticing film that had me on edge for the entire length. Incredibly creative and dark.

I appreciate the effort of doing something different, and a film noir set in modern day high school certainly fits that bill. There is some nice dialogue here, but it's a terribly dull and plodding movie overall. What a shame...

While it's Nouveau Noir premise looked so promising- a dark and dingy world portrayed through high school aged middle america- something in Brick just didn't feel right. In places the characters took their influence too far and ended up being parodies of themselves; over acting parts that would have carried beautifully understated. A worthy watch, just a little unsatisfying.

i like the film noir remake in a high school setting. it works

A slick film that's carefully plotted and pays off. It's amusing to see noir dialogue in a high school setting, though Joseph Gordon Levitt is jarring playing a high school student. Ultimately lacks a depth beyond its film noir surface though.

Just cool. Great young actors and a fantastic aesthetic delivery of a fantastic screenplay.