A teenage loner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) infiltrates his high school's roughest circles to find the truth... (Learn more)
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Nora Zehetner (View All)
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Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Nora Zehetner
A tough-talking teen attempts to uncover his ex-girlfriend's killer in director Rian Johnson's hard-boiled high-school noir, told in the style of a Dashiell Hammett mystery. An outsider by nature, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is forced to penetrate the elaborate ranks of the high-school social scene and its more insidious underbelly when the body of his former girlfriend Emily is found lying lifeless in a remote creek. Though the pair had been on the outs, Brendan can't seem to shake the hysterical phone call that he received from Emily the day before her body was discovered, a call in which she rattled off a number of cryptic words: "brick," "pin," "tug," "poor Frisco." He's determined to find the guilty party, and to do that he'll need to uncover the meaning behind her enigmatic phone call. From the highest-ranking athlete to the lowest-level burnout, no one is above suspicion of leaving her in that creek or putting her in the position to end up there. Brendan's skill for getting the right attention from the right people leads him to a local drug dealer of urban-legendary status (Lukas Haas), who walks with a cane and lives with his mother. As Brendan infiltrates the social and political web more deeply, his theory solidifies and each player's role becomes clear, from the shifty-eyed pot slinger to an upper-crust innocent who may well be a femme fatale. Brendan may soon be ready to make his case, even if it's too late for him to get out. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
3/31/06
MPAA Rating
Rated R for violence and drug content
Running Time
110 mins.
Locations
- San Clemente, California, USA
Language
- English
Box Office Total
$2,060,589
Awards
- Nominated for a Best First Feature award at the 2006 Toronto Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Original Score award at the 2006 Satellite Awards [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Winner of the Best First Film award at the 2006 Austin Film Critics [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Nominated for a Producers Award award at the 2005 Independent Spirit Awards [Festival/Aw Awards.
- Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival [Festival/Award Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Foreign Independent Film award at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards [Festi Awards.
- Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 2006 Utah Film Critics [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Winner of the Most Promising Director award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Original Screenplay award at the 2006 San Francisco Film Critics Circle [Fes Awards.
- Nominated for a Breakthrough Filmmaker award at the 2006 Online Film Critics Association [Festi Awards.
- Nominated for a John Cassavetes Award award at the 2005 Independent Spirit Awards [Festival/Aw Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Austin Film Critics [Festival/Award] Awards.
Distributor
- Focus Features
- Universal Studios Home Entertainment
