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Release Date: August 8th, 2006

Wow. Brick. This movie hit me like a ton of ‘em. It was good. Far better than I ever expected. I had heard it was good and went in expecting to like it and enjoy it, but when it was over, and throughout the film, I was just dumbfounded by how good it was. Why is this movie not everywhere?

The film follows Brendan, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock from the Sun) as he unravels the mystery surrounding the death of his ex-girlfriend, Emily. In his travels, he utilizes The Brain to crack the secrets of The Pin, a master drug dealer, while dealing with stoner Dode and the goonish Tug. Sound interesting? A little crazy? Bet your bottom muthafking dollar.

The film plays out like a film noir, a crime mystery, a detective story. In a high school. Without ever seeming contrived or stupid. There have been tons of instances of people trying to move Shakespeare into the modern times, but often it just feels like a bunch of Shakespeare being acted out in the wrong place with the wrong costumes on. This film works. You know its a detective story. You know these are just high schoolers. Yet everything fits. The dialogue sounds like it came from Raymond Chandler himself, and it’s being delivered by a teenager.

Really, I can’t say anything more for this film other than go buy it right now. Don’t bother renting. You will want to keep it. And watch it again. And again. It’s a modern masterpiece. You can’t help but be pulled into the story and cheer. Simply a great effort with amazing results.

The Upside: The total experience, the awesome dialogue and character interactions.

The Downside: It’s low on peoples radar.

On the Side: Writer/Director Rian Johnson’s first, this was originally written out as a short story (novella) because the author “didn’t have any script writing software.”

Final Grade: A+