Brick
Rated: R Brick is a film that never manages to eclipse its gimmick of "high school noir". When Christopher Nolan's neo-noir Memento came out in 2001, I recall the ascribing of the word "gimmick" numerous times in reference to the film's reverse-chronology editing. The thing about Memento is that it's not a gimmick because the editing helps put us in Leonard's short-term-memory frame of mind. But with Brick, the story could just as easily be set in the world of adults as it in the world of teenagers. In what could be described as The Adventures of Young Sam Spade, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) attempts to discover who killed his ex-girlfriend and why. There's a lot to like in this film so let me start with that before I begin to rip away at the film. To begin, writer/director Rian Johnson instantly becomes a director to watch with this feature debut. With Johnson, it's not about flashy cinematography or music-video editing (although this certainly ain't your daddy's film noir), it's about details. It's about the edges of scrap of paper or the light from a clock radio. These aren't details about "watch for this later because it is IMPORTANT". Rather, it helps get us to that detective frame of mind. It also gives us that good sort of mind-fuck frustration of everything being so clear yet the answers remain clouded. 
The other strong side of the film is lead actor Levitt. Levitt is also making his way up my Watch List. I already knew of him from his work in Angels in the Outfield, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and 10 Things I Hate About You as well as a great viral video where he takes out a camcorder and starts bugging some paparrazi (that made him my Hero of the Day). As Brendan, he stands along side Marlowe, Spade and Hammer as an unflappable badass. What makes him so badass? Because not only can he dish it out, but he can take it. As the film progresses, you wonder if he'll survive simply from the sheer number of beatings he takes. But it's also his demeanor. The way he paces, spits out the lines almost to the point of self-parody but always keeping it on the side of noir. And like most great noir detectives, he easily strolls between hero and anti-hero. Unfortunately, the supporting cast doesn't get the fleshing out they deserve and instead feel like pieces in a game. You can point to the femme fatale and the reason she's the femme fatale is because noirs need femme fatales. Any motivations she may have is non-existant at worst and non-sensical at best. And while these pieces all fit together like a good puzzle should, their lack of depth keeps us wondering as far as "how?" The "whys" of the characters do not exist. I don't need an entire biography for all these characters but in a film like this where everyone has an angle, I can't help but ask "why does this character have this angle?" I could give a more specific example but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. The other major problem with the film is also at the script level and that's the heavy use of lingo. While the film is not incomprehensible, DVD is a great place for this film because of subtitles and the rewind button. These characters talk fast and they use a lot of slang. As a murder mystery, the film is already difficult to follow without having to pause the flim to decipher the dialogue. It's not a huge sticking point but it always hurts the flow of the film if you have to halt the viewing experience to understand what the hell is going on just in terms of a simple conversation. I liked Brick and I think it's a film that will get better on repeat viewings (subtlties of performance as well as understanding the dialogue). Still, I wish the film had transcended it's high-school hook rather than just use it as a lure for a good (but standard) detective story. Words by
|
