Noir spoof tires

I am not one for movies that feed on other movies rather than life. Which is perhaps why Rian Johnson's admittedly accomplished highschool film noir dulled rather than stimulated my senses.

Others, however, have praised it as one of the most original independent American movies of the year.

Filmed at Johnson's own high school, it has the excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a tousle-haired loner who inserts himself into an adolescent crime ring in order to discover what has happened to a missing former girlfriend.

The dialogue, written by Johnson, is clipped and just right for a Bogart of the lower sixth, and it's clear that Dashiell Hammett is in the author's mind, together with a posse of famous thrillers. The references are all over the place.

Unfortunately, the film is more about style than feelings and, as it progresses through its rather geeky allusions, it takes on the appearance of a clever but tiring gimmick.

Praise, however, should go to Gordon-Levitt, Matt O'Leary and Richard Roundtree, who provide doughty enough characterisations.

And there's no doubt that Johnson is a talent. I look forward to his next film, though I won't be looking back at this one with much fondness.

Brick
Cert: 15