Brick

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

Continuing my streak of Joseph Gordon-Levitt films for movie night. My friend Marcel described this movie as "a high school alternate universe fanfiction of a different noir crime film" and he was even more correct than I anticipated. It's about a murder and the teenage detective who tries to solve it, but it's all very classy noir style, which is at odds with its high school setting. It's bizarre, but it really worked somehow? (Directorial debut of Rian Johnson of "Knives Out" fame, by the way!)

A lot of great, snappy dialogue, a mystery that all comes together in the end, and an amazing performance by my friend JGL, who is just having the roughest day of his life and it shows. I appreciate that he is physically getting worse every time he takes a hit. Like that guy is NOT doing so hot, as he shouldn't be. And every time you remember they're high schoolers it's a fun little laugh, but you know it's all done with self-awareness, so I was able to look past it. All in all I had a very good time, and my takeaway is: don't get involved with drugs.