gordon-levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to "be in good movies" after returning to acting. his films include 2001's drama "manic", which was set in a mental institution, "mysterious skin" (2004), in which he played a gay prostitute and child sexual abuse victim, and "brick" (2005), a modern-day film noir set at a high school, in which he had the lead role of brendan frye, a teen who becomes involved in an underground drug ring while investigating a murder. "brick" received positive reviews, with "the minnesota daily"'s critic commenting that gordon-levitt played the character "beautifully", "true to film's style", "unfeeling but not disenchanted", and "sexy in the most ambiguous way." another reviewer described the performance as "astounding". he also starred opposite steve sandvoss as a young judgmental missionary in "latter days" (2003), a film that centers on a sexually repressed mormon missionary (sandvoss) who falls for his gay neighbor. he had roles in "havoc" and "shadowboxer".