Before Knives Out, there was Brick: Rian Johnson’s alluring, hard-boiled debut

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as ‘a jaded teen who spits Dashiell Hammett dialogue before starting fights he can’t win’. Photograph: Focus Features/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Before Benoit Blanc, there was Brendan Frye.

At first glance, the teenaged gumshoe at the heart of Brick doesn’t share much with the gentleman sleuth from Knives Out, Glass Onion and the upcoming Wake Up Dead Man. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) styles himself as a lost Agatha Christie character, while Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a jaded teen who spits Dashiell Hammett dialogue before starting fights he can’t win.