Ever Seen That? – Brick

John Mosley flips the calendar back to 2005 for a look at Rian Johnson's Brick on the latest edition of 'Ever Seen That?'

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Writer/director Rian Johnson is probably ‘best’ known for his recent trek into the Star Wars franchise with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The film was a huge hit for Rian, even if a good chunk of the audience had some thoughts. Today, we’re taking a look at Johnson’s directorial debut with 2005’s supremely underrated Brick.

The flick is set in a California suburb with Joseph Gordon-Levitt trying to solve his ex-girlfriend’s murder. Brick is like you took a classic noir/hard-boiled detective novel, but dropped it into an early 2000s high school. The dialogue is cutting and some of my favorite work from Johnson. A lot of that is thanks to the casting as the young talent featured really bring it.

As mentioned, JGL is our lead as Brendan Frye, a smart, quiet young man that is swallowed up by this mystery. Emile de Ravin plays the ex-girlfriend Emily Kostich, and even though she isn’t in the film very much, she brings pain to the character that seeps through, especially in an early scene in which she tells Brendan some of her true feelings. The only real help Brendan has comes from ‘The Brain’ played by Matt O’Leary, who we meet absolutely smashing a rubik’s cube, letting us know that he’s wicked smart.

Without giving too much away, the work of Noah Fleiss as Tug is pure violent energy. Every scene he’s in, it feels like he is a second away from completely losing his shit. Lukas Haas is featured as the big bad aka ‘The Pin.’ Haas isn’t physically imposing by any means, but he’s a smart, calculated villain that may have found his match when Brendan shows up.

Brick is a classic detective story through and through. ‘Brendan’ starts with very little, but pieces everything together using his smarts and just an overall fearlessness. When the shit starts to hit the fan, he knows there is no other choice other than to lean into the shit storm. If you enjoy JGL, or a good mystery, I strongly suggest searching this one out! 

Brick is currently available to rent from all your favorite VOD stores! 

John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor. Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose

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