Brick

Directors: Rian Johnson

Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie De Ravin

Running Time: 110mins

Consumer Advice: Contains strong violence and drugs references

Brick, the dynamic debut feature from writer/director Rian Johnson, won the Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision.

Brick, while taking its cues and its verbal style from the novels of Dashiell Hammett, also honors the rich cinematic tradition of the hard-boiled noir mystery, here wittily and bracingly immersed in fresh territory – a modern-day Southern California neighborhood and high school. There, student Brendan Frye’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) piercing intelligence spares no one. Brendan is not afraid to back up his words with actions, and knows all the angles; yet he prefers to stay an outsider, and does – until the day that his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin of Lost), reaches out to him unexpectedly and then vanishes. Brendan’s feelings for her still run deep; so much so, that he becomes consumed with finding his troubled inamorata.

To find her, Brendan enlists the aid of his only true peer, The Brain (Matt O’Leary), while keeping the assistant vice principal (Richard Roundtree) only occasionally informed of what quickly becomes a dangerous investigation. Brendan’s single-minded unearthing of students’ secrets thrusts him headlong into the colliding social orbits of rich-girl sophisticate Laura (Nora Zehetner), intimidating Tugger (Noah Fleiss), substance-abusing Dode (Noah Segan), seductive Kara (Meagan Good), jock Brad (Brian White), and – most ominously – non-student The Pin (Lukas Haas). It is only by gaining acceptance into The Pin’s closely guarded inner circle of crime and punishment that Brendan will be able to uncover hard truths about himself, Emily, and the suspects that he is getting closer to.

BRICK is the story of Brendan Fry, a high-school loner who embarks on a mission to track down his missing girlfriend, but who soon finds himself ensnared in a tangled web of deceptions. BRICK turns the American high-school genre on its head, injecting hard boiled dialogue and a classic film noir style reminiscent of THE MALTESE FALCON and CHINATOWN. An original, absorbing mystery that will leave you spellbound.<br> “A classic film noir. Dazzling. You want to see it again” – Independent on Sunday

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