Review of The Lookout (2007) by Chads. — 07 Apr 2007

Do we need another bank heist movie? Probably not, but "The Lookout"(in the first scene, you'll realize that the title is a bad pun), with its "Revenge of the Nerds"-like scenario(Gary wasn't a cool kid, nor was Luvlee; Matthew Goode and Isla Fisher) finds a way to make this tired genre seem fresh by focusing on the human drama instead of the crime itself.

"The Lookout" is more interested in how thievery gives Chris(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a new lease on life, rather than wow us with some elaborate plan to raid the vault in fetishistic detail. Chris suspects that his "friends" feel empowered by the table-turning switch for this ex-golden boy who used to rule the school and town.

Chris should be paranoid. It's a truism that people like to tear their heroes down(you can tell that purchasing pity doughnuts for Chris stokes Deputy Ted's ego). "The Lookout" might've benefited greatly by knowing how Chris handled his big-man-on-campus notoriety.

Should we feel sorry for him? But the film does have an ending that intrigues: Chris' success is the best you could possibly hope for a person with limited intelligence; however, if you were to foreground the crime element in "The Lookout", this happy ending feels bittersweet and ultimately disappointing because it subverts the genre(we're denied the vicarious thrill of.

..).