"No more of these informal chats! If you have a disciplinary issue with me, write me up or suspend me and I'll see you at the Parent-Teacher conference."
-- Brendan Frye from Brick
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a long future in front of him. After several films, he has distanced himself from the character, Tommy Solomon on the long running NBC sitcom, Third Rock from the Sun. His portrayal as Neil in Greg Araki's suburban shock and awe epic, Mysterious Skin marked a mature and refreshing departure from playing it safe. As Brendan Frye in Rian Johnson's perfect Brick, he became Ralph Meeker, Dick Powell and Alain Delon for 21st Century noir. With roles in Havoc and Shadowboxer, he is determined to make those mean streets as fresh as anyone else on the other side of the screen. With Scott Frank's directorial debut, The Lookout, all bets are off. Levitt and a great cast fulfill Frank's vision of neo noir more than I ever thought possible. Scott Frank is one of two people who have adapted Elmore Leonard's classic crime novels to the screen. He did wonders with Out Of Sight and Get Shorty. If he only wrote Dead Again, that would have been enough to rest on for one lifetime. Malice, The Interpreter and others grace his name, but his work for Branagh and his Little Man Tate for Jodie Foster show a real writer at work. It should come as no surprise, that he paid attention to Soderbergh, Branagh, Becker, Foster, Sonnenfeld and Pollack. The results are nothing short of dazzling. I hope Scott Frank will direct more films in the future.
When we meet Chris Pratt (Levitt) at the beginning of The Lookout, he seems to have everything going for him. A promising high school athlete who is on top of the world. A tragic accident on Prom night changes everything. Chris Pratt is the epitome of damaged goods as we see him four years after the accident. He is a janitor at a small bank in his Midwestern town. He has brain damage. Through Levitt's voiceover, we learn that he is in therapy. He has no sense of chronology after the accident. Through intensive therapy, he has to relearn the most basic of activities. It is an extreme short term memory loss. In an apartment he shares with blind ex-criminal, Lewis (Jeff Daniels), there are labels on everything to remind me him of what he has to do for each activity that we take for granted. One recurring motif is locking his keys in his car, but he always has a spare in his shoe. As Chris, Levitt seems to inhabit this damaged soul with staggering beauty. A touching and brutal performance of trying to regain power and control.
It is no accident that Chris is a janitor at a bank. He really wants to be a teller there, but because of his situation, he is at best a janitor. The once popular hockey player is reduced to a nobody-- a nobody who falls into a bad group of people. A group of criminals headed by Matthew Goode's Gary Spargo befriend Chris. They make him feel like he matters and is one of the gang. I turns out that Spargo is a former classmate and wants Chris to be the lookout for a robbery. Spargo and his crew need him to carry out a robbery of the Kansas City bank he works at as janitor. Isla Fisher plays Luvlee Lemons, a former stripper that seduces Chris. This is all made to make him feel like he matters. Spargo gives Chris a passionate speech about how they are taking the money from the corporations robbing the farmers of their hard earned money. Spargo is no Robin Hood. Spargo uses the worst way to get Chris to join his plan-- insult his relationship with his father. Robert Pratt (Bruce McGill) is a wealthy man who is able to make sure his son gets everything he needs. Spargo goes so far to say that he will never get true independence from his father or anything other than his basic needs covered. Matthew Goode plays this role with such conviction, that it will be hard to see him play any other kind of character. What will Chris do? Will he let his new friends get the better of him? Or will he have the power to do the right thing? "Whoever has the money has the power." This is one of the main themes of the film and how Chris absorbs this line is one of the film's many pleasures.
On the surface, The Lookout is a very old crime story, but one told with such freshness that I could not help but be in awe of what I was watching. I did not read up that much about this film before I saw it. Many times, I will read as much as possible on a film. It does not ruin it for me at all to know some surprises. I guess for me it is the execution of the ideas that is the real pleasure in the long run. I was moved by Levitt and his circumstances. Chris Pratt is an amazing character to spend 99 minutes of your day with and his interactions with his family and friends are part of the pleasure. As Lewis, Jeff Daniels does not disappoint. He brings all the trademarks of his previous triumphs to the role. The Squid and the Whale, Infamous, Good Night and Good Luck, Blood Work, Two Days in the Valley and many others are on display for us here. Lewis keeps us guessing as to what he might do next. Chris and Lewis seem to be made for each other as room mates. They have chemistry about them and each helps the other through their trials. It is Chris though that is in the most pain. The night of the accident, two people of his friends died in his car. His girlfriend is injured and they have never talked since the accident. Chris carries an inner pain in him that is painful at times to watch. When he finally breaks down, we realize we are witnessing the continuing maturation of an actor. The Lookout continues Joseph Gordon Levitt's winning streak.
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