Brick makes zero sense. I am very adept at following films, but this one is ridiculous. Sure, I wasn't watching it with the utmost attention, but so many motives are unexplained, at least in my eyes! Why did Tugger shoot Dode? Why does The Pin start paying Brendan if he was just trying to terminate him? I think it's ridiculous! If someone can explain this film, I'd appreciate it!
shareThe film does make sense, but you *do* have to watch it with "utmost attention" because the plot (and especially the dialogue) is so rapid-fire that unless you're glued to the screen, there's a decent chance that something will slip by you. This is also the type of film where things fall into place more on a second viewing, when you have a better idea of how to filter it.
Answering your questions, (spoiler alert, of course)...
Tug shot Dode because Dode was going to tell The Pin who killed Emily. Ironically, Dode was wrong (he thought Brendan did it), but the hints he was dropping were ambiguous enough (ie: "it's someone real close to you" -- applies equally to Tug and Brendan) to make Tug think that Dode knew that he (Tug) did it. Of course, it was really Tug who had killed Em to begin with, so he thought Dode was about to sell him out. Remember, Tug is a loose cannon who doesn't think his actions out. Taking that both he and Dode had dated Emily, and both knew she was pregnant, there was as much jealousy in this as self-preservation/not wanting to get narced out. It was very much in character that he'd kill Dode at that point.
The Pin told Brendan (paraphrase) "I'll check your story out, see if it's true. Depending what I find, I'll either hire you or kill you." Part of what Brendan told The Pin was true: he had narced out a friend of his who was dealing dope. (This little subplot is rather poorly explained in the film; explaining it here would probably take longer than its worth but I can if you wish.) ANYWAY, The Pin found out that was true but apparently didn't dig deeply enough to question exactly what happened with that incident, so he took Brendan at his word. In other words, he decided it would be useful to hire him to have an inside man on the Principal's office.
Any other questions?
I love this film, but I'm a huge fan of hard-boiled detective fiction, and Brick is a conscious imitation of that. It's not for everyone, so if you don't like The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, D.O.A., et al, this film doesn't have as much impact. I do recommend giving it another viewing, especially since you at least roughly know what to expect and will now have a better idea of how to tie it all together.
Al: "What do people do for fun in this town?"
Max: "They eat the dinner."
Hi, not the original poster, but I do have a question, if that's okay.
Basically: How does Brendan know Laura has anything to do with the Pin/Tug at all? Wasn't she just Brad's girlfriend and Em's friend for a while? Obviously, she does have close connections with the Pin, but how does Brendan know?
Thanks!
When Brendan went to Laura's Halloween party, he's talking to Laura when one of her lackeys comes up and tells her "Tugger." She excuses herself and goes out to talk to him. Branden follows her, sees her talking to him next to the black mustang that had frightened Em during that phone call.
At this point in the film, Brendan doesn't know what "Tug" means (other than it's a key word from Em's speech) but realizes that Laura knows about it, and is tied in with this *somehow*. This is enough to make him wary of her: his next encounter with her is right after the fight with Brad, and he gives her his "I can't trust you" speech.
Al: "What do people do for fun in this town?"
Max: "They eat the dinner."
Thanks so much! One more question, was Brenden's only objective in fighting Brad to get the Pin's attention? Because I feel like the Pin can't go after everyone who gets in a fight with one of his clients. He even later says it was Tug's initiative to beat Brenden up after, so did Brenden just get lucky that the Pin did take an interest in him, or did he have some sort of plan in place that I missed?
Thanks again :)
was Brenden's only objective in fighting Brad to get the Pin's attention?
Because I feel like the Pin can't go after everyone who gets in a fight with one of his clients.
did Brenden just get lucky that the Pin did take an interest in him, or did he have some sort of plan in place that I missed?
Thanks so much!
shareI have a question as well after viewing this film.
When Brendan first finds the brick in the basement at The Pin's place, Tug discovers him and pushes him against the wall, threatening to beat him up again. 5 seconds later, Tug and Brendan become best friends. I don't see why Tug starts to like Brendan all of a sudden, he was clearly hating the dude for the first part of the movie.
Definitely not an easy movie to follow. The dialogue goes super fast and is full of strange slang words (not a native speaker). The story also jumps from side to side a lot and overall I think the narrative flow could've been better. But all in all a decent flick, especially stylistically it was really great.
He appealed to Tug's mistrust for The Pin. The fact that The Pin treated him pretty much like a tool to be used whenever he saw fit. Brendan says that he felt uneasy at The Pin not telling him everything and/or lying to him. Tug also have had this sensation so that is why he says that he could understand Brendan checking things out. Tug isn't the brightest kid around the block and Brendan definitely has a talent for understanding and playing people. Which is essentially what he did with the Tug confrontation.
And they are not best friends but the enemy of my enemy is my friend is simple logic that very well applies to the Tug character.
Sorry,If this sounds Dumb. But if I am not wrong Laura stole the Ninth Brick and made Em fall for it. Why did she stole the Tenth brick and why did she wanted Pin and Tug kill each other or whatever? I am still confused, is Laura bad or good?
shareI think Laura's motives are never fully explained in the movie. In the final scene Brendan even says "it doesn't matter". It's nice (or depressing) to think that Laura had some tragic back story and her only goal all along was to destroy The Pin. More likely she was greedy and wanted to make some money for herself (and get rid off The Pin and Tug who would only give her troubles).
Laura is a typical femme fatale; you want her to be good, to justify all her bad actions and to believe her when she says she cares about you, but in reality she is selfish and manipulative.
I too was confused on the Tug & Brendan becoming friends. Now I am clear. The dialogues are so off the clock that you need to decipher what everyone is saying!
On the Laura's part Brenden tells her that she might have got bored or she got greedy or she needed some action but she was definitely manipulative and selfish.
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