...the story is incredibly rich and just so much fun...
Long-time followers of film noir will get all the influences and references being dropped during "Brick." Johnson was a huge fan of the Coen Brothers' "Miller's Crossing", which introduced him to the works of Dashiell Hammett since it was based on Hammett's novels, The Glass Key and Red Harvest. You can easily see touches of both of those quintessential detective yarns when Brendan attempts to play the opposing sides against one another.
The high school setting also gives us two surreal moments that would probably never come out of the pens of Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or James M. Cain. A blindfolded Brendan is taken to The Pin's home where he's beaten by Tug and locked in the basement. In the next scene, he's brought up to the kitchen where The Pin's mom fixes him juice and cereal. Later, Brendan comes to at Tug's place where he meets the tough guy's mob, a gaggle of white-trash goons in white t-shirts and blue jeans. It adds a bizarre sensibility to the film, along with a pinch of humor.
VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is what you would expect from a release this recent. There's no murkiness or imperfections to the picture.
AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound is crisp and clear which is to the benefit of such a dialogue-heavy film.
EXTRAS:
The Inside Track: Casting the Roles of Laura and Dode feature short clips of Nora Zehetner and Noah Segen auditioning for their respective roles.
There's a collection of deleted and extended scenes with introductions by Rian Johnson as he explains why they didn't make the final cut.
Finally, you get an audio commentary track with filmmaker Rian Johnson who discusses the genesis of this project and various aspects of making a feature film for the first time and on a low budget. He's joined at various points by Segen, Zehetner, production designer Jodie Tillen, and costume designer Michele Posch.
FILM VALUE:
"Brick" isn't billed as "A Film by Rian Johnson", but as "A Detective Movie by Rian Johnson", which it most definitely is. Certainly, you might have to take a leap of faith in order to digest parts of the film. We never see the inside of a classroom once throughout the film. Not to mention, I doubt any high school student would ever in a million years say the word, "yegg." Yet, the story is incredibly rich and just so much fun that I was more than willing to put myself in their hands and just let them take me along for the ride. Films like "Brick", "Sin City", and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" have made me a happy noir junkie.
The high school setting also gives us two surreal moments that would probably never come out of the pens of Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or James M. Cain. A blindfolded Brendan is taken to The Pin's home where he's beaten by Tug and locked in the basement. In the next scene, he's brought up to the kitchen where The Pin's mom fixes him juice and cereal. Later, Brendan comes to at Tug's place where he meets the tough guy's mob, a gaggle of white-trash goons in white t-shirts and blue jeans. It adds a bizarre sensibility to the film, along with a pinch of humor.
VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is what you would expect from a release this recent. There's no murkiness or imperfections to the picture.
AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound is crisp and clear which is to the benefit of such a dialogue-heavy film.
EXTRAS:
The Inside Track: Casting the Roles of Laura and Dode feature short clips of Nora Zehetner and Noah Segen auditioning for their respective roles.
There's a collection of deleted and extended scenes with introductions by Rian Johnson as he explains why they didn't make the final cut.
Finally, you get an audio commentary track with filmmaker Rian Johnson who discusses the genesis of this project and various aspects of making a feature film for the first time and on a low budget. He's joined at various points by Segen, Zehetner, production designer Jodie Tillen, and costume designer Michele Posch.
FILM VALUE:
"Brick" isn't billed as "A Film by Rian Johnson", but as "A Detective Movie by Rian Johnson", which it most definitely is. Certainly, you might have to take a leap of faith in order to digest parts of the film. We never see the inside of a classroom once throughout the film. Not to mention, I doubt any high school student would ever in a million years say the word, "yegg." Yet, the story is incredibly rich and just so much fun that I was more than willing to put myself in their hands and just let them take me along for the ride. Films like "Brick", "Sin City", and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" have made me a happy noir junkie.
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