BRICK

After a perfect moviegoing weekend where Eric and I caught two double features, K & I finally caught up with BRICK last night at the Arclight. It was of special interest as it premiered at Sundance when I was there, was directed by a USC grad, and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt who attended my alma mater and was so moving in MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Also, the story behind BRICK is that it took 6 years or something for the director to raise funds and assemble the cast and crew to make his picture: a real indie labor of love. Pretty inspiring stuff for me and others in the proverbial boat.
Unfortunately, I don't think there will be a worse film this year. From start to finish, I couldn't identify a single human being in the film. The central conceit---Dashiell Hammett meets THE O.C.---is striking at first but then quickly devolves into parody (by like minute 3). Where's the respect? For THE MALTESE FALCON? THE THIN MAN? The director misunderstands style for tradition. BRICK has all the aesthetic tropes of film noir but they're rendered effete: the director doesn't have the cajones to marry style with authentic human experience. Nothing matters in BRICK because there's literally no life in it. No real people. No real behavior. No real anything. Sad sad sad.

LOVE
ALEX