The Lookout stars Joseph Gordon Levitt as Chris Pratt, a popular high school athlete whose life is turned upside down when his reckless driving concludes in a tragic car accident that kills two of his friends, disfigures his girlfriend, and leaves him slightly brain damaged.
Four years on, Chris is still suffering from his injury which has seriously impaired his short term memory, making it extremely hard for him to keep his life in sequence. Working as a janitor at a local bank, Chris leads a non-existent social life, while his family life proves too be too stressful. The only person who understands him is his blind best friend and roommate Lewis (Jeff Daniels).
Depressed and lonely, Chris is unknowingly coerced into becoming an accomplice in the robbing of his own bank by local hood Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode), who seduces Chris with promises of a new life and the love of a new family.
Scott Frank - the screenwriter of such modern crime classics Get Shorty and Out of Sight - has written an excellent screenplay and provides fine direction (his debut) in a very good crime flick that puts a unique twist on the heist genre. James Newton Howard provides an electrifying, atmospheric, and moody score.
The film features a number of captivating and well written characters, the more unsavoury among them containing an alluring quality which seduces the films lead character played by the brilliant Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who - if he were to continue taking on these type of roles - will be the premiere American actor of his generation.
His character's inability to properly sequence his life (a basic human requirement which we take for granted) is a unique character trait which is exploited by criminals who promise him power in a life rendered powerless, and independence in a life which is slave to the study of pattern, ritual and repetition.
Gordon-Levitt's ability to emote the struggle and frustrations of his characters disability, along with the pain and sorrow for having caused his current situation (along with the death of his friends), makes for engrossing and heartbreaking viewing. Jeff Daniels also puts on a fine performance as Gordon-Levitt's blind, wise cracking protector, and does so without relying on caricature or over the top theatrics.
Upon first glance, the viewer may be forgiven if this film looks like a Memento rip off. But having watched it, it is clear that The Lookout clearly stands on its own merits. This is a fine crime movie which deserved much more recognition.