Brick: Summary And Analysis Movie Review

In the film Brick by Rian Johnson, Brendan receives a phone call from his ex-girlfriend Emily who begs him for help and mentions about a ‘brick’ over phone. Brendan later finds her dead body and takes on the charge of solving the murder with the help of a friend Brain and conceals the body from police. He traces The Pin, mentioned by Emily, who is a drug baron and persuades him and joins his gang. Dode had seen Brendan hide Emily’s body and threatens to ruin him. In the meanwhile, Brain gets to know of “poor Firsco” who is a student who fell into coma due to detergent that had been doctored among the ten bricks The Pin had received. The Pin and Tug are to meet something to know of Emily’s death. Brendan fears the intervention of Dode and meets him first only to know that she was pregnant. However, Tug kills Dode in a fit of rage and threatens The Pin. Brendan, who suffers from internal bleeding, faints. Brendan suspects Laura as she smokes the distinct cigarettes which he had seen after Emily’s death. A meeting between The Pin and Tug turns gory as the tenth brick is missing and The Pin is killed with the police arrives. Brendan frames Emily’s body to charge Tug with the murder. Laura’s hand in the matter is exposed. She tells Brendan that Emily was carrying his child, but she did not love him. At the end, she leaves as he looks on.
The film aptly carries forward the legacy of films like Reservoir Dogs and Twin Peaks by placing the milieu of the chilling thriller in the mottled light of a school in Southern California. The film portrays a mesh of underworld noir characters and a few teenagers who embark upon that gory path. The cinematography excels and depicts the mood of the film perfectly. The dialogues of the film stand out and add the sense of harsh reality. It seems incredulous how a lad of Brendan’s age matches up to the gang of drug dealers and finally emerges with success in his ambition. What remains in the mind of the audience is the sheer valor and strength of character of Brendan. He is intrepid enough to face the world of horrors in a bid to unravel the truth. The director has claimed films like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep to be of huge influences to him. The film is a perfect portraiture of contradictions. It portrays the bright and the gloomy in juxtaposition to each other. Brendan becomes the icon of morality and truth. An epitome of youthful confidence, the film acts as an inspiration for the youngsters to do away with inhibition and fear and embark upon the quest for the truth, do what they believe in. Nameless fears do loom over the film’s characters. But, the film finally portrays the triumph of the valor of human heart. It glorifies the vigor and conscience of the human soul.