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Brick

Play trailer Poster for Brick R 2005 1h 49m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 141 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
After receiving a frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, teenage loner Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) learns that her dead body has been found. Vowing to solve her murder himself, he must infiltrate high-school cliques that he previously avoided. His search for the truth places him before some of the school's roughest characters, leading to a confrontation with a drug dealer known as the Pin (Lukas Haas).

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Brick

Brick

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Critics Consensus

This entertaining homage to noirs past has been slickly and compellingly updated to a contemporary high school setting.

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Critics Reviews

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Victoria Segal New Statesman 09/26/2017
Brick is quotable, clever and cryptic... Go to Full Review
Sight & Sound 09/28/2006
The teens in Rian Johnson's striking debut feature Brick express themselves in jargon that sounds as if lifted straight from the pages of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Go to Full Review
Ben Walters Time Out 06/24/2006
The self-consciously mannered rat-a-tat-tat dialogue also mines a neat overlap between teen slang and noir patois, both of which can be indecipherable to non-initiates. Go to Full Review
Grant Hermanns Screen Rant Jul 10
9/10
Rian Johnson's Brick remains one of the most remarkable directorial debuts with his combination of a sharp, energetic script and stylish direction. Go to Full Review
Justin Brown Medium Popcorn 05/28/2023
2/5
I'm not particularly into this genre and then putting it in a high school setting was a bit weird. But it was entertaining to watch because it's so nutty. It's a grounded, nutty film. Go to Full Review
Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn 05/28/2023
4/5
This movie floored me when I first saw it and it still holds up despite some inconsistent performances and pacing. "Brick" made me a lifelong fan of Rian Johnson. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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gibran carrillo Jan 17 I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!! I first found out about this movie back in the second grade and it fully caught my attention in eight grade ever since. I o first saw in college and ever since it’s been a movie that I really love. The vibe, the story, setting, the production value, the acting, the characters, the camera work AMAZING MOVIE!!! I’m glad I got to watch it in the big screen, it was a beautiful experience. I’m glad I got to watch it in theaters. 🎥🎥🎥 See more Juli S Jan 16 The "transplant" concept is executed superbly. Director Rian Johnson sets a 'cinema noir' piece in a high school, transposes noir archetypes (hard-boiled detective, femme fatale, corrupt official, gangster, naive girl who 'gets in over her head') to high-school standards (loner, prom queen, power-hungry principal, bully, social climber) with creativity. My only reservations are that a) the wonderfully snappy dialogue is sometimes garbled (Mr Johnson, please re-record Gordon-Levitt in studio!), and 2) drama was lessened by using a color-format rather than black-and-white. See more HipHo H @HipHo 6d One of the best noirs I've ever seen; for a debut it's astounding. It's original and innovative - amazing film See more Phoebe B. @phoebe08 Apr 30 This was not on my to-watch list but I can attest that film junkies will likely love this movie. Clever, compelling, and complex, Brick was an unexpected action-packed high school whodunit chalk full of well cast characters and gut wrenching plot twists. Littered with 1940s film noir slang, the language was hard to understand and I consequently missed details but it, in a way, added a unique charm to the film's intentions. Actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brendan) and Nora Zehetner (Laura) dazzled me with top-tier performances and it is no surprise that director Rian Johnson went on to direct many of my favorite mystery films. Kudos for pulling off a remarkable niche project! See more Noah H. @Noah85 Jan 26 Really AWESOME movie. Loved the action, the story, and the shots. This was a GREAT return to film noir in my opinion. See more Demitry M. @CoolerGuy Jan 17 I don't know what's wrong with me, I've been watching duds lately or something. It's not to say this movie is bad, necessarily, but its obtuse. The teenagers talk (my opinion, people are praising the dumbass way they talk) in a dumbass way where it pulls any realism from it. I do like and always will like Jo Gorden Levitt. The only time I didn't like him was in The Night Before, which is a movie that should have worked becuase of how great the cast is but honestly what a wet fart of a movie. And I watch it every 2 years to see if maybe my opinion changes but it never does. I might as well put on clown makeup and start asking people on the street if they know what the meaning of insanity is. I dunno. See more Read all reviews
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Brick

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Movie Info

Synopsis After receiving a frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, teenage loner Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) learns that her dead body has been found. Vowing to solve her murder himself, he must infiltrate high-school cliques that he previously avoided. His search for the truth places him before some of the school's roughest characters, leading to a confrontation with a drug dealer known as the Pin (Lukas Haas).
Director
Rian Johnson
Producer
Ram Bergman, Mark G. Mathis
Screenwriter
Rian Johnson
Production Co
Bergman Lustig Productions
Rating
R (Violent Content|Drug Content)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 21, 2005, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Mar 31, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.1M
Runtime
1h 49m