Grant Hermanns Screen Rant Jul 10, 2025 9/10

Rian Johnson's Brick remains one of the most remarkable directorial debuts with his combination of a sharp, energetic script and stylish direction.

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Justin Brown Medium Popcorn May 28, 2023 2/5

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.

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Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn May 28, 2023 4/5

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.

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James Croot The Post NZ Dec 13, 2021 5/5

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

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David Lamble Bay Area Reporter May 9, 2020

This quirky little film was an audience favorite at Sundance. Fans of teen drama, Heathers division, will enjoy a veteran ensemble: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his first post-Mysterious Skin appearance, the lovely Lukas Haas...

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jan 19, 2020 3/4

Rian Johnson boldly decided to mash together a high school flick and a neo-noir, and the result is surprisingly good.

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Victoria Segal New Statesman Sep 26, 2017

Brick is quotable, clever and cryptic...

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Oct 24, 2015 2.5/4

...it's impossible not to wish that the first-time filmmaker hadn't leaned quite so heavily on the antiquated shenanigans.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson Common Sense Media Mar 22, 2013 4/5

Smart, stylized teen whodunit with violence and drugs.

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Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal Sep 25, 2010 4/4

Noir fits "Brick" like a glove, stylishly injecting assured tough talk, vice-grip tension, black humor, striking sound design and gunshots sounding like locker doors slammed on options. A great detective story and, for some, a high-school flashback.

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Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Aug 30, 2009

The movie's rigorous dark-lined elegance leaves a punchy aftertaste

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Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Jun 3, 2009 4.5/5

That rarest of things: a movie called 'unique' that actually is.

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Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed Apr 29, 2009

Mostly lives up to the hype.

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Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Apr 20, 2009 D+

This glorified student film is only barely elevated by the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan Frye a noir-speaking California high school misfit caught in the violent middle of a drug gang responsible for the death of his ex-girlfriend (Emilie de Ra

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Brandon Fibbs BrandonFibbs.com Feb 28, 2008 8/10

Brick is a black-comic ballet through the peculiar terrors of suburban adolescence...

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Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Aug 11, 2007 A

Whatever it is, wherever it is, whenever it is, it's not remotely like anything else out there.

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Rob Humanick Projection Booth Jul 3, 2007 C+

Brick exemplifies the difference between a cinematic talent show and mere karaoke.

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Erica Abeel Film Journal International Mar 1, 2007

An innovative ride that carries the viewer into a world familiar from genre films and the novels of Dashiell Hammett, yet quite unlike anything we've seen before.

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Philip French Observer (UK) Jan 20, 2007

A refreshing private-eye thriller in a style now widely identified as neo-noi.

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Robert Roten Laramie Movie Scope Jan 17, 2007 B

A good whodunit with some references to films made in the 1940s.

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