10 Best Neo-Noir Movies Of The 21st Century

The idea of a bunch of modern day Southern California high school kids talking like they're straight out of a Dashiell Hammett novel is enough to give a lot of folks mental gut rot, but Brick presents its hard-boiled bundles of hormones in a witty and intelligent light.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan Frye, the outsider detective with a tongue of tweed, who verbalizes like an adolescent Sam Spade and fancies himself a loner in the mold of Dirty Harry.

Transferring the grit and grime of typical crime movies into a high school setting is a bold move, but one that pays off each time a recognizable narrative beat is upended by an assistant vice principal or locker room bully poking their noses into the action.

In what might be JGL's most nuanced performance to date, he takes us on a guided tour of interweaving social circles and complicated criminals. And despite his tough-talking ways, he never lets us forget about the underlying innocence that comes with youth. Brick isn't your everyday mystery, but it's a powerful one nonetheless.