5. Brick (2005)
Dir. Rian Johnson Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Emilie de Ravin, Lukas Haas and Richard Roundtree I cant remember who (I imagine it was some critic) said that there was no story that couldnt be adapted to take place in an American high school. Writer/director Rian Johnson proves the point by transporting the stock characters of film noir and hardboiled fiction to the realm of the high school. Loner, Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets a phone call from his confused, scared ex, Emily (Emilie de Ravin). But by the time he tracks her down, she recants what she said, and asks Brendan just to leave her alone. But Brendan cant do that. He knows shes up to her neck in something to do with popular rich gal Laura (Nora Zehetner) and Tug (Noah Fleiss), the muscle for The Pin (Lukas Haas). As one character says about the mysterious Pin, Hes really old, like, 26." This is perhaps the best neo-noir movie of the 2000s. The relocation to the high school is genius and is done without feeling like a pastiche. The film looks at noir with a deadpan gaze. The humour from the high school setting works- Brendans dealing with the VP (Richard Roundtree) echo so many detective shows but make it feel fresh and original. And Rian Johnson gets all the cast on board for this- there isnt one performance that plays it with a nod and a wink- its all deadpan. Speaking of the cast, picking out certain performances over others would feel mean because there is a hell of an ensemble here, but all credit has to go to the magnificent Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His performance, like all the performers in the film, harkens back to American cinema of the 40s with the fast-talking, quick wit, yet doesnt feel so old-timey its hard to engage with. Brendan Frye is one of my favourite screen heroes because of the wonderful writing and Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing the rare thing of pulling the character in contradicting directions- Brendan is tough, he takes a lot of beating, but theres a lot of vulnerability to him; hes a smart guy, the chess player, but at the same time hes always one move away from losing. If youre a fan of noir this movie is not a must- its essential. It uses the noir tropes lovingly, but always treats them seriously. Its funny without poking fun at itself and pulling the audience out of the experience. For those coming to the movie without knowing all that much about noir it can be a strange experience. But nonetheless this is a movie that, for me, is strong in every department- cast, writing, direction, soundtrack- all feel entirely right for the movie. And there are few films Id ever say that about.