The Good
The cast of this movie all give standout performances.
The Bad
Sadly, too much of this movie felt like a mix of other movies.
Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) used to have everything. He was a crack hockey player who had the whole world in front of him. Then, after being in an auto accident, Pratt’s life is forever altered and he cannot function without the aid of notes. Each of his days seem to be a carbon copy of the next as he makes his living as a janitor in a bank. He eventually makes the acquaintance of Gary (Matthew Goode) who is planning on robbing it. Deciding that Pratt could be an asset, he uses Luvlee (Isla Fisher) to further get into Pratt’s head and he eventually agrees to go along with the crime. Events play out that make Chris realize he is a pawn in this game and it is here that he sets about stopping the crime. As nothing in a heist film can ever be this easy, The Lookout takes an even greater turn for all the players involved.
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The best part about this movie is its cast. Gordon-Levitt, Fisher, Goode and Jeff Daniels (as Pratt’s blind roommate Lewis) all offer up a great deal in their roles. They play off of one another really well, and seem to elevate the material that feels surprisingly familiar from writer/director Scott Frank.
Features
Behind the Mind of Chris Pratt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt sits back and dissects this role. He talks about having 11 months to think about the character, what he liked about the role, and how playing Chris Pratt has been his hardest acting job to date. Gordon-Levitt talks about wanting his portrayal to look hard in the movie, so he would come to work very tired after working out in the gym in the hopes that this would show in his characterization. He then discusses Chris Pratt’s mindset and his life and how nothing is ever routine for him. Since he constantly has to think about doing things this really informs who his character is.
Sequencing The Lookout
You gotta love that Scott Frank begins this commentary by declaring that it’s another episode of, “How the Rookie Director Screwed Up.” While Frank and Alar Kivilo did this track together, they both seem to handle different aspects of what this movie offers. Frank talks about the characters, the budget and the locations while Kivilo discusses the logistics of shooting in these locations and working on a budget. This makes for an interesting commentary but people wanting anecdotes on the shoot and things of that nature be warned: THEY AIN’T HERE.
Video
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 - 1080p HD Resolution. I hate to say it but I really didn’t notice too much difference between this Blu-ray release and its Standard counterpart. This movie looked decent but there wasn’t anything about it that really made me think it deserved to be on Blu-ray disc. I know with this format war the big thing is to get as many movies on each format as possible, I just think that The Lookout isn’t the kind of film that would qualify to be released in this way. That said, if you read my Standard review you will see that I thought the picture itself looked pristine. I feel that way here but I think I expect Blu-ray to look like that.
Audio
English and French Dolby Digital 5.1. English: PCM 5.1. As I said before in my Standard DVD review of The Lookout, what I liked the most about the audio is the way that Scott Frank uses it to get inside the character’s heads. Nothing about it is too big but by the same token nothing feels overdone. I never felt like I was being beaten over the head by the audio and this was actually quite pleasant. On Blu-ray I noticed a bump in the audio, things sounded a little fuller, but for the most part the sound is meant to aid the movie and not impress your friends with how great the next generation format is.
Package
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels and Matthew Goode stand on the front of this Blu-ray cover with an appropriate dark blue background behind them. Across them is a strip of images from the movie, and there are also some quotes from various reviewers. The back cover gives us some more images from this film, it offers up a description of what The Lookout is about, a Bonus Features/System specs listing and a cast list.
Final Word
As I was watching this movie I couldn’t help feeling like Scott Frank took everything that was special about The Spanish Prisoner and Memento and then mashed them together. This isn’t to say that The Lookout was unoriginal, I just thought that for his writing and directing debut Frank could have put something together that might have made a tad more of an impression. I hate to say it but this movie seemed to go out of its way to have all of today’s common indy film themes. The characters themselves weren’t special but the people who played them was what stood out to me.
I think that Scott Frank is one of the best screenwriters working in Hollywood today. I think the films he writes have a weight and depth about them that many other movies do not. I guess, to me, The Lookout falls much shorter when held up against such Scott Frank screenplays as Out of Sight and Minority Report.
The Lookout was released March 9, 2007.
