Brick (or, You talk funny like!)

One of the positive things about coming home is that I will be able to catch a few flicks I missed in the UK. Yesterday, Richard and I caught Brick at the Kino.

While I wasn't blown away I was certainly impressed, immensely impressed. Director Rian Johnson, despite not being able to spell his own name, has an real eye for making the screen pretty - a talent that is considerably lacking in the world of American independent cinema. And original to boot.

Playing like Veronica Mars on steroids, Brick is über-noirish and set in a conspicuously deserted high school. Everyone natters away as if they've been surviving on an unhealthy diet of pulpy detective novels, so much so that it would be easy to look at Brick as a classic from a bygone era if it weren't so try-hard. The film trades heavily off this conceit, so heavily that when it breaks it totters on the edge of silliness.

Luckily, Johnson is aware of this gaping hole of credibility and he manages to patch it up with some deft, self knowing comedy (the scenes with the mother are absolute gold).

The performances are wryly perfect, excepting the femme fatale, who is neither femme nor fatal, except for her acting.

All in all, an expert play. The flick lands just on the right side of Bugsy Malone. At the end it feels like a great popcorner, surprising given its heavy themes. Personally, I think that is quite an achievement. Rian is certainly a name to watch.

Tags: movie review, cinema