Review of The Lookout (2007) by Josh M — 21 Jul 2010

The Lookout revolves around Gordon-Levitt's character, Chris. It begins depicting a tragic high school accident, injuring his girlfriend, killing two of his friends, and leaving him with a head injury.

Chris works making practically no money as a bank's janitor, attending class pretty regularly but having trouble with event sequencing and such. His roommate/friend played by Jeff Daniels is a great motivator for Chris and helps him through his troubles, even though he himself is blind (so as you can see, the character foundations are solid, and knowing these two actors, you can assume they do a fine job portraying these two characters).

But soon, a thuggish character, played by Matthew Goode, ropes Chris into helping rob a bank. That's the general plot outline for the film. While Gordon-Levitt, Daniels, and Goode all do amazing job bringing these contrasting characters to fruition, some of the emotional aspects in the movie hit a bit too hard.

Chris's troubles with his past accident make the movie seem more depressing than anything else. His outbursts in front of his parents, friend, etc. make for awkward situations where the mood just dies instantaneously.

However, that's not to say that this wasn't a solid bank robbery film. Overall, the first hour or so was depressing, however, the build-up to the robbery actually worked very well. The sudden plot twists towards the end worked well, and the very end left the audience a great resolution.

If the first hour or so wasn't so choppy with emotional overloads, this might have been a great thriller. It WAS good though, so I'd recommend a rent on this one.