Die Regeln der Gewalt

So you want a good heist film? See Dog Day Afternoon, as tense a study in botched robbery and kidnapping to come out of the '70's as any. Don't think the sweet Lookout will carry the same tension because it so heavily relies on the character exposition of its protagonist, Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), that the heist is just an artful ending to an absorbing study of depression and rehabilitation.

Chris, a rock-star hockey player in high school, terminates that celebrity with a reckless accident that leaves him impaired emotionally and physically. So he's easy prey for a gang that entices him to help them rob a rural Kansas bank, where he is a janitor. Up to the point of the gang contacting him, Chris tries heroically to perform actions in a logical sequence. But even his family, especially his father, is impatient with his arrested development, although they are generous in financially supporting him as he goes on the mend.

Writer/director Scott Frank rarely lets Chris out of the frame, to good effect, because the actor and his lamentable past draw us into his narrow world in sympathy but not pity. Chris is determined to arrange his life in a sequence, with the help of his notebook and roomie, a blind and perceptive, bearded, guitar-playing Jeff Daniels, whose lines provide humor and balancing perspective as Chris slips into the heist. Both actors exude realistic, humorous, world weary personas that perfectly reveal the ambivalence Chris brings to this life-defining crime.

The Lookout is a small film, released at dumping time right after the Oscars, but an invigorating study of humans under stress. It begs all of us to "lookout" where we are going, either on a lonely road with our lights turned off or in a plan to steal from farmers who have made life possible.

This is one of those slightly odd-ball heist movies which manages to carry off the down beat vibe and still be more-or-less convincing. Think of it as a Fargo-lite. Gordon-Lovett, following on from his excellent turn in "Brick",plays a College Ice Hockey star player, whose reckless "gift" to his girlfriend ends with her maimed and two other friends dead. Four years on, he is partially brain-damaged, confused and a self-loathing young man, going to "special needs" class to help deal with day-to-day tasks. No longer functioning as he was, he maintains a part-time janitor job at night in a small town bank. The nearest he gets to his dream ice hockey career now is using the mop as his stick and some urinal disinfectant blocks as pucks; shooting them into the waste bin. If he thought he had problems now; just wait until his new found "friend" reveals why everything in his life is starting to look up.... This has that mix of oddness that works for the most part, such as Gordon-Lovett's dependence on his a blind friend and flat-mate; played really well by Jeff Daniels. The main bad guy has value, although the femme fatale, played by Isla Fisher is probably too good to be true- and her character arc is left open-ended.

Roped and corralled into helping to rob his bank, he starts to sense all in not right-but its too late to back out now.............

All in all, I really enjoyed this until the top-and-tail ending. In a few narrated scenes at the end, the writer conspires to undo a lot of the hard work. The writers pen is dropped for a broad stroke "rainbow" paintbrush , resolving a lot of issues quite flippantly and totally ignores others. Perhaps the director should have got a re-write, but as he and the writer are one and the same, this was not to be!

Still, it was a good character driven piece of film-making overall and Gordon-Lovett is one to watch. He also bears a striking resemblance to Heath Ledger both in appearance, as well as ability.

This is incredibly entertaining and solid piece of film making, by Scott Frank. The film travels on a road that its laid out for the audience to see steps ahead, but that never matters, b/c you are constantly in suspense over what will happen to the incredibly well drawn characters in the film. Frank also shows tons of directorial flair to accompany his writing prowess. The whole cast was amazing, Matthew Goode is completely unrecognizable and is perfect in the film. Jeff Daniels again dons a Beard and steals his scenes, every line of his dialog either makes you laugh, think or just compels the movie forward, and Joseph Gordon Levitt again proves why he is capable of being one of the next great movie stars. Go see this movie and tell your friends to do the same.

This is the kind of film Hollywood should be making,

This quiet, understated drama-thriller may take a while to get going, but the characters are fascinating and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels have a wonderful chemistry that lends the film an unexpected heart. As a brain-damaged student and a blind wannabe entrepreneur respectively, their relationship is very sweet and would probably work well in a buddy comedy.

There's a neat Fargo-like quality to a lot of the characters and dialogue and while it covers few locations it has that convincing small town feel.

Gordon-Levitt is a night janitor at a local bank who's targeted by a gang and finessed into acting as a lookout while they rob it. Things - as they must - go wrong and he has to summon all the faculties of his fractured mind to save himself.

Isla Fisher is quite revelatory in her small role. As Luvlee she's either rather dim-witted or incredibly cunning. Fisher's performance hints at the deeper recesses of her character but doesn't reveal what they hide. Luvlee is one of those rare characters where you find yourself genuinely hoping they won't turn out to be something other than what they appear. Ultimately there's something curiously redemptive about Gordon-Levitt's journey, where there really shouldn't be. It's a testament to the quality of his performance.

Overall a satisfying drama with sustained tension and some fine performances.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt seems to pop up where I least expect him. Having not heard his name since the glorious days of "3rd Rock from the Sun", he turns up in this movie. And while it was surprising, his acting didn't fall flat.

Joseph is paired with Jeff Daniels of "Dumb and Dumber" fame. They are a unique pair. Joseph has loss of short term memory due to a tragic accident and Daniels is blind. Daniels is sharp with his biting sarcasm and crazy one liners. But Joseph is stays serious, distancing himself from his earlier days.

It had some good moments and things really heat up during the robbery. The action with the security guard at the bank along with the plot at the end made it an interesting bit to watch. Worthy of its awards? Doubt it, but it certainly surprised a little. "B"