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Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 534 Location: North Dakota

I'm a fan of detective stories, I love Humphrey Bogart old school Sam Spade gumshoe black and white flicks. I eat them up. There's nothing better to me than kicking back watching a down and lonely guy living on the outskirts of life getting in over his head and coming out the end with his head intact.

Brick is a modern day (sort of) throwback to all that good stuff and it does a better job than Kiss Kiss Bang Bang did (not talking that movie down, but this is much truer to the genre).

I thought it was amazing, I suppose some people can look at it and see nothing but gimmick and style, but they're not seeing how hard it really is to make something this hardboilded in a setting like this and make it all work. The movie is more than a homage, it stands on its own as a twisty turny detective flick with an outcast hero who's playing all the angles and hoping like hell everything works out in the end.

It reminded me more of Millers Crossing than anything else.

The acting is right on the money, the style, the brutality and amazingly, even the High School setting works...these are dark stakes, and the world is just as stylized as any black and white gumshoe flick. Like I said before, they pull it off.

This is the best movie I've seen in a long time, but like I said, I'm a big fan for this kind of stuff.
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Dread Central Staff Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 1966

I was actually a little intrigued by this one but didn't catch it in the theaters when it was out. I need to track down the DVD (if/when it is out). Confused

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Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 126

The DVD came out yesterday and you can get it at Target or anyplace like that. The movie kicks ass for the reasons described above. It's sort of like if Lynch directed a film noir.
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Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 284 Location: IL

just watched it an loved it... the acting.. the director's style... everything was top notch..

Joseph Gordon Levitt has become quite a great actor with this and Mysterious Skin...

Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 1341 Location: Hell, GA

The writing was top notch, but it took me time to get used to the old school "film noir" dialogue in a contemporary setting.

Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 118 Location: Western NC

Definitely been wanting to see this one for a while. Sounds like I need to give it a rent this weekend (and if I dig it, of course, I'll give it a buy) . . . .

J.N.
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Finally got a chance to see this.... LOVED it.

Joseph Gordon Levitt was amazing, and I literally fell in love with the cinematography.

This is one I will be looking to own.
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Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 701 Location: Australia

Good call on this being a contemprary Miller's Crossing. Great film that manages to be fresh and exciting purely by changing the setting for a classic genre.
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