Brick

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Brick

R

Released Jan 21, 2005

1h 49m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

141 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

After receiving a frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, teenage loner Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) learns that her dead body has been found. Vowing to solve her murder himself, he must infiltrate high-school cliques that he previously avoided. His search for the truth places him before some of the school's roughest characters, leading to a confrontation with a drug dealer known as the Pin (Lukas Haas).

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Critics Consensus

This entertaining homage to noirs past has been slickly and compellingly updated to a contemporary high school setting.

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Victoria Segal

New Statesman

Brick is quotable, clever and cryptic...

Sep 26, 2017

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Sight & Sound

The teens in Rian Johnson's striking debut feature Brick express themselves in jargon that sounds as if lifted straight from the pages of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

Sep 28, 2006

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Ben Walters

Time Out

The self-consciously mannered rat-a-tat-tat dialogue also mines a neat overlap between teen slang and noir patois, both of which can be indecipherable to non-initiates.

Jun 24, 2006

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

I'm not particularly into this genre and then putting it in a high school setting was a bit weird. But it was entertaining to watch because it's so nutty. It's a grounded, nutty film.

Rated: 2/5

May 28, 2023

Full Review

Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

This movie floored me when I first saw it and it still holds up despite some inconsistent performances and pacing. "Brick" made me a lifelong fan of Rian Johnson.

Rated: 4/5

May 28, 2023

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James Croot

The Post NZ

Brick is a brilliant, bravura and breathtakingly ingenious debut from writer-director Rian Johnson.

Rated: 5/5

Dec 13, 2021

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Jennifer L

Movie Was Ridiculous! Can’t Believe It Got Okay Reviews, Would Rather Pull My Eye Lashes Out One By One, Then Watch 5 Minutes Of This Movie. Supposed To Be High Schoolers, But Every Actor Acted Like They Were Grown Adults. Only Laughs Were When We Were Making Fun Of Movie.. Only Drama Was The Pain Of Watching This, Hoping It Would Get Better…Sadly It NEVER Did!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/18/25

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Mason M

This ingenious neo-noir thriller succeeds in its writing and execution. Though quite the absurd concept, Johnson makes it believable. And this film's may be most notable for its incrediblely unique camera angles and techniques, melancholy score, and stellar performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This is a thrilling watch and an essential neo-noir of recent years.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

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Audience Member

Good for an amateur. I found the dialog annoying and distracting.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/29/24

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Soap F

Watch this if yo want proof that Rian Johnson actually made a good movie. His next movie should be about how, in 2008, some kind of movie-making Cyborg with no idea how to make movies took over his body and has been pumping out stinkers ever since.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/10/24

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Alec C

In a seemingly normal high school, something foul is hiding beneath the surface! As a loner investigates the death of his girlfriend, he gets entangled with the many cliques and a powerful drug dealer in his pursuit of the truth. Dreary with a sense of comedy, this film is like Philip Marlowe in school shorts!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/25/23

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Jack V

Not gonna lie, I only watched the first 25 minutes or so before giving up. It's just so cringe. Who thought combining high school drama and noir was a good idea?? I just can't take these characters seriously.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/02/24

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Rian Johnson

Director

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Brendan Frye

Lukas Haas

The Pin

Nora Zehetner

Laura Dannon

Noah Fleiss

Tugger

Matt O'Leary

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Synopsis

After receiving a frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, teenage loner Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) learns that her dead body has been found. Vowing to solve her murder himself, he must infiltrate high-school cliques that he previously avoided. His search for the truth places him before some of the school's roughest characters, leading to a confrontation with a drug dealer known as the Pin (Lukas Haas).

Director: Rian Johnson
Producer: Ram Bergman, Mark G. Mathis
Screenwriter: Rian Johnson
Production Co: Bergman Lustig Productions
Rating: R (Violent Content|Drug Content)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 21, 2005, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.1M
Runtime: 1h 49m

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