60-second cinema

5 out of 10 Spoiled slightly by the difficulty I had making out what people were saying, thanks to their slightly detached, rapid mumblings and my poor hearing. Even so, I couldn’t help feeling this film thought it was a lot cleverer than it was. Really, it was no more than your average detective film, following a self-confident outsider investigating the death of a friend who’d fallen in with the wrong crowd. Honestly, that’s really all there is to it. How it won a Sundance award is beyond me.

7 out of 10 Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an excellent performance as Brendon who after receiving a mysterious phonecall from his ex-girlfriend, decides to investigate her disappearance. Brendon enters a world where no-one is to be trusted but who he is reliant on for information. Brick is essentially a new spin on the film noir/detective movie genre albeit set in a High School environment with a ‘Twin Peaks’ vibe. This is Rian Johnson’s debut feature and it is highly entertaining, fast paced and totally absorbing, but not without its flaws. It is not an easy watch. It requires a lot of concentration from the viewer mainly due to lengthy dialog and a language that is very unique. For long periods of time I had no idea what they were taking about, I just knew it was very very cool. It is a film that demands a second viewing and I believe that this could well be a film I will return to in the future and wonder why I didn’t rate it more highly.