Compelling acting demands appreciation in The Lookout

April 2, 2007 —

Joseph Gordon-Levitt sure has come a long way since 10 Things I Hate About You.

His roles after a run as a child actor suggested he was poised to follow the tradition of being unable to make the transition successfully. But following a brief layoff to attend college, he returned to acting, racking up a string of impressive independent movie roles.

The Lookout is Gordon-Levitt's latest step forward to becoming a legitimate film star, adding another unique character to his repertoire. He plays Chris Pratt, a once-promising high school hockey star whose world is turned topsy-turvy following a car accident for which he is at fault that leaves two dead and him with a severe head injury.

The bulk of the film takes place four years after the accident where we find Pratt working nights at a rural bank as a janitor and suffering from gaps in memory. Pratt's faulty memory has made even recalling trivial daily activities a struggle. It's this condition along with his position at the bank that former schoolmate Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode) attempts to exploit to put a planned bank heist into action.

The Lookout breaks away from the traditional heist movie in that it's a character study first and foremost. The tension that usually goes hand-in-hand with heist movies is reserved for the backend of the film, with the rest being dedicated to fleshing the characters out.

In the hands of just anyone, this may have been a recipe for a bust. But writer-director Scott Frank is no stranger to penning scripts that showcase vivid characters in environments with suspenseful undertones, as he showed with Get Shorty and The Interpreter.

Frank has thrown so many engaging characters into a situation that it's easy to overlook the shallow emphasis on the heist itself.

Gordon-Levitt subtly embodies the role of a brain-damaged individual, showing the signs physically and mentally without being overbearing about it. His walk is slightly odd, he occasionally blurts out inappropriate things, and at times, must repeatedly ask a question.

He comes from a wealthy family that he may have fit in with before the accident, but clearly does not now. A Thanksgiving dinner is an exercise in awkwardness, made no better by the presence of his blind roommate, Lewis, played by Jeff Daniels. Lewis serves as a mentor of sorts to Pratt, aiding him with things like reconstructing the order of events.

Daniels delivers his lines in a sharp, sardonic manner that assure us of his capabilities, despite his handicap. In one scene, he mocks Pratt's floozy love interest, played by Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), easily getting her to believe his blindness is a result of staring at the sun too long.

There are still moments when his vulnerability is evident, though, thus preventing him from falling into the stereotype of the all-knowing blind man.

A potential strike against The Lookout is the simplistic format of the story. The trailers place a strong emphasis on Pratt's memory issues to the point where some will likely be expecting another Memento.

But whereas Memento used memory loss as a vehicle for unorthodox and complex storytelling, The Lookout makes it a tool to create a sympathetic character.

It's far from generic, but in an age where similar films opt to fill the story with twists to the point of confusion, it is a Point A to Point B story that relies on its compelling characters to make it memorable.