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The Lookout
Directed by: Scott Frank
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Genre:
Drama/Independent
Run Time: 99
min.
Release Date:
March 2007
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
A wholly original but — at
the same time — familiar film, THE LOOKOUT has that bank heist
noir feel with a human twist.
I started searching out Scott Frank films (writer and director of The
Lookout) after watching GET SHORTY many years back. His
snappy dialogue and unique look at ‘fish-out-of-water’ characters caught
my attention and I’ve been pleased with his most, if not all, of his
work.
Add to this film the talents of relative newcomer Joseph Gordon-Levitt (BRICK)
and veteran Jeff Daniels (GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK) and I was intrigued
...to say the least.
The familiar element is the bank heist reminiscent of THE SQUEEZE (1978)
with Lee Van Cleef. The unfamiliar comes from Chris Pratt played by the
aforementioned Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s damaged goods. Not just
mentally but physically. Involved in a car crash that killed several
friends, injured another, and left Chris with a traumatic brain injury,
the audience is left to ponder what would have become of an all-star
athlete who now has serious lapses in memory and can only hold down a
janitorial job at a local bank.
Living with another handicapped man named Lewis (Jeff Daniels), the two
are an odd, disabled pair. Lewis helps keep Chris on-track with his
brain-injured therapy, while Chris plods along trying to make sense of
the changes in his life that aren’t really changes at all ...just
problems with memory. His frustrations are palpable, including his
problems he has with his father who doles out guilt money only as he
sees fit.
Into the picture comes a group of bank robbers with their eyes on Chris.
Included in the group is a lovely young lady named ...well ...Luvlee (Isla
Fisher). Gaining Chris’ trust (and sexual advances) Luvlee soon reveals
her true nature. Handing Chris into the deadly hands of her cohort Gary
(Matthew Goode, MATCH POINT), Chris finds himself at the center of the
heist at the bank where he works and stuck without a way out. Or does he
have one?
The fact that the audience is left guessing as to the depth of Chris’
brain damage is a nice ending. How much he actually knows of what he’s
doing and why is an unusual turn on a familiar film road. The weaving in
and out of the night of Chris’ deadly car crash with his current no-win
situation is pulled off exceptionally well and had me glued to my seat.
And Jeff Daniels’ masterful portrayal of a blind man with a set of chops
also added immensely to the film’s success. And Luvlee is pretty nice to
look at, too (wink!).
A good heist film that has helped relaunch the genre in a new direction
...far removed from things like the
OCEAN’S films.
(back to top) |
Image from The Lookout
DVD cost: $14.78
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
To be more convincing as a
blind man, Jeff Daniels spent time at the Michigan Commission for the
Blind Training Center in Kalamazoo, observing and learning some basic
skills used by blind people on a daily basis.
Movie Quote: "I
want you to write down 'Bank extra-clean' in your notebook."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Lookout
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