The Lookout
Scott Frank is no Elmore Leonard. But he’s not half bad – even without Leonard as his muse. Frank, who turned the Leonard novels “Get Shorty” and “Out of Sight” into crackling screenplays, becomes a writer-director with “The Lookout,” a moody heist film set on the snowy plains of Kansas. Frank’s conceit – a high-school golden boy suffers a debilitating brain injury, then is recruited to rob the bank where he works as a janitor – sometimes wobbles under the weight of its preciousness. And he falls in love with some manufactured quirks, like a suave young crook who uses an inhaler. But Frank remains an uncommonly intelligent writer. He gracefully etches even the smallest supporting characters, including a compassionate bank teller and a well-meaning but insensitive sheriff’s deputy. And I loved the way he shows that the hero wasn’t such a nice guy when he had the world by the tail. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Chris Pratt, who suffers from short-term memory loss and other cognitive disabilities since a car accident – entirely his fault – that killed two friends. “The Lookout” effectively establishes Chris’ quiet desperation, and Gordon-Levitt suggests a man haunted by the past because he can’t function in the present. Frank strains to persuade the audience that Chris would turn to robbery as an outlet for his frustrations, but he rights himself in time for a taut third act that builds suspense without resorting to canned mayhem. “The Lookout” is a tough, satisfying genre movie, blessed with economy and grim wit.
LISTEN: The Lookout