Wow.  This is one of the best movies I have seen in the last 2 years.

Take an old noir film, set it in modern day high school, and keep the old time lingo.  What results shouldn’t work, but it does, and works very well.

Basically, Brenden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a high-school guy who gets a mysterious phone call from his ex-girlfriend.  He finds her dead soon after, and sets out to find out what happened.

Basically, he is playing the rogue cop/private eye role.  His high school principal is playing the police commander that gives him grief.  He has his own connections.  The classic characters are there:  the bad guy, the thug, the femme fatale, gangsters, etc.

Joseph has grown up from his days on 3rd Rock From the Sun and is climbing in Hollywood with his acting abilities (also see "The Lookout").

Do yourself a favor; rent this movie today!