Brick

It's a shame I missed Brick when it played at the movies because if I had this film would be a contender for the top five of the year.
On one level this appears another high school movie. It is so not one.
Brilliantly conceived, Brick is an old-fashioned detective/gangster film surrounding Brendan (played by the very under-rated Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his search for answers to what happened to the love of his life Emily (played by Lost's Emilie De Raven).
He is assisted by his nerdy sidekick/informant The Brain, who is a very interesting character and his association with Brendan is intriguing.
Brendan is trying to infiltrate a gang run by a guy known as The Pin to uncover what happened to Emily.
To say any more would be telling!
I just wish I had known some of this going in. I had high expectations because of four-star reviews and given that, let's face it, it is a weird movie and just the type of movie that I relish.
Perhaps a second viewing is in order, to watch it knowing what I know now could well be a different experience. The setting certainly had me fooled for a while, that's for sure.
So if you're looking for something interesting to watch in your spare time this one is worth checking out. I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10.