Director: Scott Frank
Writer: Scott Frank (Screenplay)
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher, Carla Gugino, Bruce McGill
Plot: Chris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Underrated Crime Thriller
Story: The Lookout starts as high school student Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt) trying to impress his girlfriend and friends, which leads to a tragic accident leaving him with memory problems where he struggles to do every day routine. Four years later he is still trying to recover where he lives with Lewis (Daniels) a blind man who is used to working through these issues. Chris works nights in a bank where he ends becoming a target of Gary Spargo (Goode) and his criminal friends.
Gary befriends Chris as a former friend from school as well as meeting Luvlee (Fisher) to give him a new romance in his life. Gary pushes Chris into helping him rob the bank he is working in using all the weakness that Chris has to play him into helping out. We are left to see if Chris follows through with this or not.
The Lookout is a thriller that shows us what it would be like to get bought into the world when you could easily be taken advantage of. While it all comes off nicely on that angle as we only see how much Chris gets to see his part of the crime. The best part of this film is looking at how Chris is going about his life and how his family and friends have dealt with the accident. We do get to see how difficult it would be for people who have been working with Chris would struggle too. This might not be a slick crime thriller but it is an emotional style film.
Actor Review
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Chris Pratt is the once rising star of high school ice hockey but after his accident he finds himself struggling with every day routine. He works in a bank where he becomes the target of bank robbers who befriend him to help them rob the bank he works in. Joseph gives us a great performance in this role showing the difficult side of everything happening to the person with the problems.
Jeff Daniels: Lewis is the blind friend who lives with Chris, he is used to the disability life and always tries to guide Chris in the right direction, keeping calm when things don’t work out for Chris. Jeff is great in this supporting role where he takes everything in his stride.
Matthew Goode: Gary Spargo is an old school mate of Chris, he sees him working in the bank and tries his hardest to befriend Chris where he offers him the chance to think for himself for once, he ends up using him to rob the bank but not everything goes to his plan. Matthew makes for a good villain through this film.
Isla Fisher: Luvlee is the friend of Gary that offers up a romantic angle for Chris, she sees what is happening but decides she wants out of the plan. Isla makes for a good romantic interest for our lead.
Support Cast: The Lookout has a good supporting cast that all look good for the roles they are in.
Director Review: Scott Frank – Scott does give us a wonderfully told story from start to finish.
Crime: The Lookout gives us a crime story involving a bank robbery which all comes off well.
Thriller: The Lookout keeps you guessing from start to finish as to what Chris will do.
Settings: The Lookout uses the small country settings well showing how easy it would have been to rob one of the banks.
Special Effects: The Lookout uses very few effects but when needed all come off well.
Suggestion: The Lookout is one to have watched at least once and it will be enjoyed by crime fans. (Watch)
Best Part: Final moments.
Worst Part: Hard to find one.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: no
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $16 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
Tagline: Whoever has the money has the power
Overall: Great thriller that has real heart dealing with disability.
Rating
