Unfortunately, the indie film niche Joseph Gordon-Levitt occupied brilliantly in Brick has been exhausted with The Lookout. This film is just another formulaic indie film featuring an angst-filled teenager placed into an awkward situation. It gives the audience a story that moves too fast and yet succeeds to spell out every single turn of events so the audience never feels challenged or truly entertained. Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt), the star of his High School hockey team, finds his life irreversibly changed after a car accident caused by his own sense of ego while driving with a car full of his friends (his girlfriend included).
Now, post-accident, we learn Chris has brain damage, limiting his ability to remember and perform daily tasks; unfortunately, this also limits his ability to provide a livelihood and finds that the best job he can handle is the night-time janitor at the local bank. He goes through his daily routine (even if he can’t remember them all that well) by going to the Life Skills Center, then to work, all the while carrying these overpowering feelings of guilt. Perhaps it would be easier for Chris to forgive himself if he didn’t see his now ex-girlfriend (the only other survivor of the crash) every time he went ice skating by the LSC. Anyways, Chris’ life is going without aberration when he meets an interesting man, Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode), during his nightly stop at the local watering hole; he claims to have dated his sister in high school and just wants to hang out with him sometime. Through Gary, Chris meets Luvlee Lemmons and eventually gets caught up in a heist to rob the very bank he works at. His role in all that? The lookout.
So now you know where the movie’s coming from, but unfortunately it’s delivered so poorly and without any mystery or panache that I found myself thinking that perhaps they should have concentrated on the interesting predicament of the main character more rather than trying to throw in a plot that gets pushed too hard, too fast. The worst part of it all? They draw mysterious connections between characters but then fail to go through with it. For example, Lewis (Jeff Daniels) is Chris’ roommate in their apartment and upon mention of Spargo’s name, Lewis comments about having known a Gary Spargo once. But that’s it. They don’t elaborate on what could have been a plot point to tie things together.
Now, to be clear, it isn’t Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance that is lacking, it's the plot. Levitt does splendidly as a teenager with a past that he can’t escape – ever. The notebook full of notes, the labels throughout his house, the desperation that comes from both of them, and Chris’ knowing that he can’t remember things that should be commonplace are all brilliantly displayed by Levitt giving Pratt’s character real depth. Especially funny is Chris’ attempt to deliver a pick-up line that he overheard but forgot how to deliver. It’s things like that, that we remember without consciously doing so, that make Levitt an up-and-coming actor worthy of notice.
The other two primary actors, Jeff Daniels and Matthew Goode, also do very well in their parts; though it’s Daniels who had the most difficult role of all trying to play a believable blind person. And when all is said and done, his performance is convincing as well. Matthew Goode (from Match Point) plays the perfect smooth-talker Spargo and oozes the kind of confidence that every male wants but few exhibit. Goode’s performance makes it easy to understand why an afflicted, and otherwise highly moral, soul like Chris Pratt would throw away his chances at an innocent life in favor of Gary’s plans for bank robbery.
With solid performances by Levitt, Daniels, and Goode; I was shocked to find the plot riddled with holes. It just doesn’t seem fair that these three thespians should sign on to an indie project that looks good from all sides on the exterior, but lacks content and sensibility on the inside. Perhaps this film (as flawed as it is) will launch Levitt to the next stage of his career, granting him a presence in the bigger movie business. If you’re a fan of bank robbery movies like Heist and so forth, you’ll probably be disappointed with The Lookout. But if you’re one of those indie movie kinds of people, then The Lookout will give you your fill of the usual, but without any special bonus or delight. It could have been so much better if only they’d slowed down the film and made the heist, and following events, a little juicier. Ah well, it’s a shame when bad movies happen to good actors.
A bonus though...this is one of the few films in recent years where a police officer knows how to shoot. I mean he kicks serious booty.
"The Lookout" opens March 30, 2007 and is rated R. Drama. Written and directed by Scott Frank. Starring Alex Borstein, Carla Gugino, Isla Fisher, Jeff Daniels, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Laura Vandervoort, Matthew Goode.
