Brick

After its acclaimed 2005 release at the Sundance Film Festival and a short-lived stay in theaters, Brick is now available on DVD. This compelling and innovative “detective movie” takes a film-noir approach in following high school loner Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he tries to solve the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin). Working with his friend, The Brain (Matt O’Leary), Brendan soon finds himself investigating her disappearance by jumping headfirst into a seedy drug ring led by the ominous Pin (Lukas Haas). The limited special features delve behind the scenes, with writer and director Rian Johnson narrating 22 minutes of deleted and extended scenes. The commentary features Johnson, actors Noah Segan and Nora Zehetner and crew members from production and costume design offering tidbits from their individual areas of expertise, none of which is very insightful and rarely pertains to what’s onscreen. The best, and most useful, feature on the DVD is the subtitles, as the dialogue is filled with fast-talking, ’40s’ slang (a sample line: “Bulls would only gum it.”). What the DVD may lack in extras, it makes up for with its original and compelling style, vision and storyline.