Review of The Lookout (2007) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is quite a gritty, bleak film, all in all. The characters are well developed generally and I found myself quite engrossed in it by the end. There are a lot of scenes set at night, so its quite dark in general, lighting wise as well as in terms of the story. It felt really quite spooky and had more of a thriller feel to it towards the end - the last half an hour or so being especially gripping, or so I felt anyway. The music (or score) used throughout really added to the tension and it went from feeling more of a character based drama, to a more fast paced action thriller in the last half hour or so. It seemed to be quite detailed in terms of detailing what happens, showing the thinking behind the main characters and how and why they took the actions they did, so you could say its fairly detailed or well thought out anyway. Its certainly not a flashy big budget action film all about car chases and special effects, its much more a character driven drama with more of a focus on the plot detail, which is a good thing in my book.

As the plot develops, I found myself feeling sorry for Chris, his background or history and the predicament he found himself in, although of course I wouldn't agree with being a heist or burgulary accomplice. The other bank robbers are quite impulsive and of course agressive, so for some time I was left unsure of how things would go, where the plot would go next. I thought that some of the dialogue was somewhat poignant, discussions between Chris and his room mate Lewis and I liked that he talked through (via the voice over) his thoughts in his mind, going over various key principles he's told and noted down on paper, which are shown on screen - somehow seeing the handwritten notes adds an extra feeling of connection and understanding in relation to him as a character. I thought it was particularly interesting that this film plot dealt with disability - a somewhat more original angle perhaps on the old bank robbery drama type film? its a tough subject and indeed both physical and mental disabilities are dealt with in this film.

At first, I didn't find this to be especially engrossing and I wasn't sure how good it was going to be - as mentioned, its a bit slow to start and the fact its so darkly lit for the most part can be a bit of a put off, moreso in terms of feeling like you (as a viewer) are in the know ie. aware of whats going on. It is rather gloomy and gritty and as such I don't think this will appeal to everyone but by the end of the film, I found it quite gripping and engrossing, I thought the main character was especially well portrayed by Joseph Gordon Levitt and I was impressed with the plot detail. It is somewhat thought provoking, in terms of the disability angle, how the relevant characters are both viewed and perhaps view themselves and the different emotions conveyed. There are one or two plot twists and the ending is quite quick but overall I found this to be a decent entertaining film - one thats worth sticking with at the start, as it does 'hot up' later on.

I'd recommend this film, as it has a good amount of characterisation, good performances, its quite engrossing and gripping towards the end and its somewhat thought provoking, with a disability theme or angle to an otherwise somewhat tired main plot (that of a bank heist). It is rather bleak, with quite a gritty story and the lighting is quite dark for the most part but other than that, this is a pretty decent film thats worth a watch, at least I reckon so anyway.