The Lookout

Although kiddie noir—dark ‘40s-style thrillers with teen protagonists—hasn't produced many successes, Scott Frank's The Lookout is a winner, boasting a cunning script and sharp direction, as well as another superb performance by risk-taking young actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick). When high-school hockey star Chris Pratt's (Gordon-Levitt) reckless driving results in a terrible accident, he winds up in a coma with partial brain damage. Upon awakening, Chris finds that he frequently suffers from memory loss and crippling disorientation that make him incapable of completing everyday tasks. A few years later, Chris is able to hold down a night job as a janitor at the local bank, but he's frustrated by his inadequacies. Befriended by an older man he meets in a bar, Chris is enticed into a caper that he believes may win him independence. Without spoiling the fun, it's fair to note that the film features a long, absorbing heist sequence, followed by an equally intense, even more complicated scheme that Chris concocts to overcome his problems with memory and correct his mistakes. Gordon-Levitt brings real pathos to Chris's dilemma, and Jeff Daniels is great as his wisecracking blind roommate. In narrative terms, The Lookout may owe something to Memento, but it works beautifully on its own—a twisty, color noir that is both cannily suspenseful and genuinely moving. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary with writer-director Scott Frank and cinematographer Alar Kivilo, a 20-minute “Sequencing The Lookout” making-of featurette, “Behind the Mind of Chris Pratt” on Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's main character (10 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an impressive thriller.] (F. Swietek)