Brick
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lucas Haas, Nora Zehetner
Details: US, 110mins, 15.
River's Edge, released in 1986, documented an overbearing apathy in the hearts of high school kids and was a million miles away from the John Hughes romantic comedies, so popular at the time. Brick, with its opening shot of a teenage girl lying dead in a storm drain, inhabits that same world. Although debut writer-director Rian Johnson places his story in a high school, Brick is more The Big Sleep than The Breakfast Club. Brendan is a mirror of Chandler's private detective Phillip Marlowe but Johnson is not interested in the wise cracks or quips as his Brendan is a fast-talking, no-nonsense rough teenager. Gordon-Levitt - a revelation in this role - is cooler than cool as the outsider in a school of outsiders; his performance would do the noir writers proud as he fully understands what Johnson is trying to do and the genre he is working in. Gordon-Levitt, who must hold the record for the amount of times he gets the head kicked out of him on screen, is backed up an equally impressive cast - especially Haas who, for a man who hardly moves an inch throughout, delivers a performance of quiet malice. If you thought Syriana was a deluge of information travelling at a mile-a-minute, just wait for the snappy dialogue of Brick
Review by Gavin Burke
Your Comments
No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!
Login or Register to leave a comment
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here are those of the viewer and do not reflect those of Entertainment.ie. Entertainment.ie accepts no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for their accuracy of content. Please contact us to report abusive content
Search for Cinema Listings
Most Popular Reviews
|
|
Men in Black III |
|
|
What To Expect When You're Expecting |
|
|
The Dictator |
|
|
The Raid |
|
|
Jeff Who Lives at Home |




