Milwood Movie Night

Before Benoit Blanc pulled out the knives, there was Rian Johnson’s first detective, Brendan Frye. A tough, hard as nails detective with an uncontrollable need to get at the truth and the ability to take a serious beating and keep on sleuthing. Brendan goes up against a conspiracy of crime with few he can trust and a seemingly endless list of people who want to stop him. Harassed by the authorities, casting dames aside left and right, Brendan hunts the infamous ‘Pin’ and his henchmen ‘Tug’ to find a murderer and a trove of treasure in brick form.

Brick (2005) plays on every trope of the film noir, hard-boiled detective, right down to a jazzy dance number and hard edits. The twist? Brendan is seventeen and the entire movie takes place in a California high school. If it sounds absurd, it is, but made with such a love of the genre that it’s impossible to take it more seriously than the premise would presume.

Brick is basically a student film, funded by family and friends. It is filmed in and around Rian Johnson’s hometown of San Clemente, California. It can feel a bit rough in places, but that actually plays well into the film noir styling.

Brick stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Richard Roundtree, Lukas Haas, and Meagan Good.

Brick is rated R for moderate violence (mostly the punching variety), drug use, and mild language.

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