The Lookout: Review By Flrep07

The film "The Lookout" disguises itself as a simple movie about young teens robbing a bank. Right? Wrong. As I watched the film unravel, at first the movie did not catch my eye. I was wondering, "what the hell is this?". Still, the film quickly brings the audience in more and more and keeps them more entertained, like the snowball effect. Certainly the movie did a superb job of its purpose to entertain and deliver a climatic piece of film.

Plot:

A big hockey star named Chris Pratt one day goes joy riding with his girlfriend and two other friends through the road late at night. As they were driving, the car's headlights were turned off so Chris can see the dragonflies light that was hovering above them in their convertible. When suddenly, Chris's car collides, throwing Chris many feet into the air and into the ground, making him loose his memory. After the crash, Chris befriends a blind man named Lewis (Jeff Daniels.

Chris does not remember much about anything, his family, his friends. Only some of his memory remains and has a few twitches now and then from the accident. The young man works for as a janitor in a somewhat local bank. A gang leader named Gary (Matthew Goode) befriends Chris and making him a part of his scheme to rob the bank. As Chris's confusion along with his desperate need to find himself, he goes along with the plot until he realizes what he has chosen is wrong and tends to undo it.

Acting/Cast:

Besides Jeff Daniels, most of the cast are "rookies" or newcomers, but that does not stop them from delivering a suspenseful and captive performance. The leading actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not show much emotion, but when he does in the film, its genuine. The rest of the cast creates an atmosphere of professionalism and seriousness that the movie definitely needs in order to work. Also, there is a small role of Laura Vandervoot as Kelly a.k.a. Chris's girlfriend, but she does not contain many lines because the movie generally does not pertain the past life of Chris. Overall, the acting did deliver and it worked to the T for all those actors yet to be known.

Directing: The directing was generally well done. No complains, I thought it was just what the movie needed, and the director actually wrote the movie as well, so kudos to Scott Frank. Throughout the ninety-nine minutes of the film, it was all climatic as there is no other word to describe it and detailed. In the end, the movie and the information and scenes that it portrays all have a reason for being in the film, which makes it that more brilliant. Once you go and see the film, you will know exactly what I mean.

Pros: Great action/drama/crime film with little use of bullets or many props.

Cons: Did not have that much of a well known cast so many people did not even know about it or wanted to see it.

Sequel: The movie ends in the possibility of there being another one, but highly unlikely because once the movie is done, you ask yourself "If there's another one, what will it be about? Another bank robbery?". After seeing the movie, that question would not make sense, and the film most probably was created as a stand alone (for all the right reasons). The movie is not an extreme must see, but you should definitely give it a shot, so watch it on dvd or on one of those movie channels like how I did.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10.