Lookout for Joseph Gordon-Levitt

By Frank D'Adamo
Collegian Staff
April 4, 2007

What makes a great movie? When the audience becomes emotionally involved with the characters. The Lookout succeeds in that aspect, among many other things. What comes most to my mind is the writing. There is so much detail about the plot itself that it may be hard to follow. All the same, though, everything flows so well that this movie deserves accolades.

Scott Frank debuts as a director in The Lookout, and the movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode and Isla Fisher. The movie begins with Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt) and his three friends on a car ride. At first, they are having a fun time, but things take a turn for the worst when a car accident changes the life of the former high school superstar.

Chris’ life is completely altered by brain damage caused by the accident. Now, he has to write everything down so that he can remember what he did that day. His accident is widely known throughout his hometown, which results in people giving him special treatment, while others become skeptical of his work performance. Chris works at a bank and wants to be a teller; however, his boss feels that he should still stick to janitorial services and night watch.

Elsewhere, he is in a class where he has to learn how to sequence his events. His problem is he does not know how to sequence well. He was given the advice from his blind friend and roommate Lewis (Daniels) that he should start from the end and work his way back.

After class one day at a bar he is confronted by a woman, Luvlee (Fisher), and another man, Gary (Goode), who used to look up to Chris despite being three years older than him. Totally unaware that he has become involved with the wrong crowd, Chris is given the proposal to be a lookout so Gary and his fellow “gang members” can rob the bank Chris works at. Thus begins the story of a movie that in my eyes is a complete hit.

I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll start from the end. This movie is definitely an “A” all the way and highly recommended.

The phrase, “You can’t get it right the first time,” came to my mind as soon as the credits rolled. Frank completely defied that saying. He did get it right the first time, and for that he deserves all the credit he can get.

As far as Gordon-Levitt is concerned, I’ve always been a fan of his performances. I’m stemming back to Angels in the Outfield (1994) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). He has a certain quality about him that allows him to play any type of character. Gordon-Levitt can project vulnerability and can make the audience sympathize with him. A particular scene I am referring to in The Lookout is when he is trying to escape from Gary, and he gets in a car and drives away and forgets to put his headlights on. His whole problem from the beginning of the movie is that he didn’t turn his headlights on, which caused his accident. During the scene of him driving down the road, I felt more worried about him getting into another car accident rather than him actually being caught by Gary.

The storyline itself is impressive because to me it’s all about acceptance. I personally believe that whoever sees The Lookout will leave the theater with a little more knowledge than before they went in.

dadamof1@lasalle.edu