The Lookout

Posted by christopher on March 7, 2011

I cannot remember how I heard about The Lookout. Because of this, I literally had no background on what this movie about, which was captivating and enlightening. Going into a movie blind leaves one open to what the film plans to explore and where it will or should end. With that, I will continue that point of view throughout this review to hopefully keep you, keep others fresh entering the story. I will, however, note that the title is in fact somewhat telling though is merely a means to an end.

The Lookout starts slow and start emotionally, evoking a nearly instant compassion for the main character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from such fame as “Third Rock from the Sun,” “G.I. Joe,” and most recently “Inception”). He is placed in a position that made me question my own resolve, my daily activities, my direction in life. This, however, can only carry on for so long without disruption; a focused, real antithesis to visualize the challenge that he must overcome.

Enter Matthew Goode (from such fame as “Leap Year”…that was a joke btw). Goode’s character presents both challenge and opportunity. He is the means to the end in this story. And while he and the plot line his character brings along were interesting at times and encompassed at least half of the movie, it really, in hindsight, is a sidebar to the overarching story. Which is the brunt of my issue with the movie–it’s many things without doing anything particularly well or seeing something through to its conclusion. A wonderful example of this is the love interest for Levitt’s character, the uniquely names ‘Luvlee’ played by Isla Fisher. Luvlee has a fairly prominent part however her introduction, background (or lack thereof), and exit are all too brief without being flushed out, which leaves me to question why she was involved in the first place. I have my thoughts as I’m sure others do, but I am left wanting more, wanting affirmation of her existence. This is true of many scenes and sub-stories in the movie which are introduced and fade away as the writer/director moves to the next piece. Truly this movie would have been solid as a 20-25 minute short film. That is to say, there is something good here, just not in need of a full length feature.

As I mentioned before the movie is emotional: I laughed, I was embarrassed, I was saddened, I was filled with ambition. It’s decent but far from outstanding.

The Verdict:

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