Brick

While taking its cues and its verbal style from the novels of Dashiell Hammett, Brick also honours the rich cinematic tradition of the hard-boiled noir mystery, here wittily and bracingly immersed in fresh territory a modern-day Southern California neighbourhood and high school.

There, student Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) piercing intelligence spares no one. Brendan is not afraid to back up his words with actions and knows all the angles; yet he prefers to stay an outsider, and does until the day that his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin) reaches out to him unexpectedly and then vanishes. Brendans feelings for her still run deep, so much so that he becomes consumed with finding his troubled inamorata.

To find her, Brendan enlists the aid of his only true peer, The Brain (Matt OLeary), while keeping the assistant vice principal (Richard Roundtree) only occasionally informed of what quickly becomes a dangerous investigation.

Brendans single-minded unearthing of studentsïsecrets thrusts him headlong into the colliding social orbits of rich girl sophisticate, Laura (Nora Zehetner), intimidating Tugger (Noah Fleiss), substance-abusing Dode (Noah Segan), seductive Kara (Meagan Good), jock Brad (Brian White) and most ominously non-student, The Pin (Lukas Haas). It is only by gaining acceptance into The Pins closely guarded inner circle of crime and punishment that Brendan will be able to uncover hard truths about himself, Emily and the suspects that he is getting closer to.

Special Features:

• Interview with Director Rian Johnson

Critic Reviews:

• " Brick is quotable, clever and cryptic. " – Victoria Segal

• " Even with its shortcomings, Brick provides solid thrills for film noir fans. " – Stella Papamichael

• " Rian Johnson boldly decided to mash together a high school flick and a neo-noir, and the result is surprisingly good. " – Matt Brunson