Brick (2005)

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer (WGA):

Rian Johnson (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (Canada)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

A detective story.

Plot:

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Drugs | Drug Dealer | Shot In The Forehead | Shot In The Chest

Awards:

9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Brendan
Nora Zehetner	...	Laura
Lukas Haas	...	The Pin
Noah Fleiss	...	Tugger
Matt O'Leary	...	The Brain
Emilie de Ravin	...	Emily (as Emilie De Ravin)
Noah Segan	...	Dode
Richard Roundtree	...	Assistant V.P. Trueman
Meagan Good	...	Kara
Brian J. White	...	Brad Bramish (as Brian White)
Jonathan Cauff	...	Biff
Reedy Gibbs	...	Pin's Mom
Lucas Babin	...	Big Stoner
Tracy Wilcoxen	...	Straggler
Ari Welkom	...	Tangles (as Ari Velkom)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent and drug content.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Netherlands:12 | USA:R (certificate #41781) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Japan:R-15 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

San Clemente, California, USA

Company:

Bergman Lustig Productions

Trivia:

The horn signal Brendan instructs Laura to give him (long, short, long, short) is the same as the doorbell signal Sam Spade tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy he'll use in The Maltese Falcon (1941). Brendan's earlier line to Laura, "Now you are dangerous," is taken from the film as well.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brendan meets Dode on the football field, he falls down and his jacket gets quite muddy along the right arm and right side. The next scene is Brendan going to the tunnel at 4:00 p.m. for the meeting, and the jacket is perfectly clean.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Brendan answers the pay phone]
Emily: Brendan.
Brendan Frye: Emily.
Emily: Yeah-h... How's things?
Brendan Frye: Status quo.

Movie Connections:

References May (2002)

Soundtrack:

Brain Hammer

Bugsy Malone goes to high school

'Brick' is a film noir murder mystery featuring contemporary high school students who talk and behave like 1940's-style gangsters.

I hastily bought a ticket to 'Brick' at the Sundance Film Festival, knowing nothing about it but what was written in the Sundance catalog. I almost didn't go to the 9:15am screening but I am so glad I did. 'Brick' was by far the best of the eight films I'd seen up until then. It's one of those rare movies that keeps me grinning throughout, delighted by every turn of the grim plot.

The slang is thick but contextual. Watch closely for little camera tricks like a clock that reads 5:45 until it comes into focus and suddenly reads 8:30.