Film: Brick

Take LA Confidential (or any other classic film noir) and whack it in high school. Keep the rough, slang language, the twisty and turny, murderous and mysterious story and perfectly flawed characters and what you'll end up with is something strongly resembling Brick.

I'm not sure what else there is to say really. Immaculately written and directed, and just short of that mark with respect to the acting (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Brendan is especially cool), there isn't much wrong with Brick. Like Confidential, the plot makes you work hard - zone out for a second and you'll probably lose sight of it. The dialogue and slight tendency of the main protagonists to mumble don't help with this, but the reward is worth your best efforts.

Possibly one of my favourite films this year, it's amazing that this is getting such a limited release. Catch it while you can.