038 Brick by Rian Johnson

A classic hard-boiled film noir set in a contemporary SoCal high school seems like an unlikely marriage, but somehow Rian Johnson's Brick, released in 2005 and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, mostly succeeds in pulling of the 'high concept' task. Mashing up a little Twin Peaks, spaghetti westerns, and Cowboy Beepop for style, Brick is an interesting recasting of familiar police procedural tropes. Similar to modern adaptations of Shakespeare (think 1996's Romeo and Juliet), the characters defy their surroundings without a wink and a nod, oblivious to their displacement while maintaining the illusion. Enjoy!

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