Day 259 of the challenge! Brick is off the list! Can we just please admit that anything Rian Johnson puts to screen is a work of art?
The lone anti-hero detective that does all the wrong things for the right reasons. The beautiful femme fatale you want to trust, but doubt that you can. A troubled client, in too deep and in some serious trouble. A mysterious underworld kingpin, working in the shadows and known only by his ominous moniker. Corrupt cops, moody lighting, music, etc. In short, the noir mystery works. Now, take all that, but set it a contemporary California high school full of teenagers and teachers fluent in pulp. That’s Brick, and it’s beautiful.
With a premise as bizarre as that, Brick could have very easily been a satire of the old detective films Rian Johnson obviously has a great affection for. Instead, Rian plays it straight and ends up creating one hell of a unique and memorable neo-noir flick. No parody or satire here, just a really effective subversion of the mystery and teen film genre. The affection goes deeper than just the characters and dialogue though. Visually, the film is outstanding. The aisles of book shelves in the school library are framed like tight streets, lowly lit by grimy streetlamps, the school theater like a seedy nightclub, and the rows of outside lockers like twisting back alleys.
The weird thing is, the actual politics and “unspoken rules” of high schools aren’t too far off from the way they’re portrayed here. Rian just takes them to an extreme conclusion that keeps you watching down to it’s final moments. Can’t recommend it enough!