Strong story, stark setting, and invested performances. Really good film.

Great little flick. 4*

Things like this make me wonder what exactly critics are looking for when they rate films. This certainly was different, but is that all it takes? If so, I've been reviewing movies wrong all these years. Creativity definitely counts for something in my book, but execution and writing is what makes a picture truly great. And this one was mostly lacking in those areas, which is why I had a really hard time getting into it. For starters, it tried to be too many things at once, and it didn't do any of them particularly well. It wasn't an exciting heist movie, and it wasn't the most interesting character drama either. (I guess they figured two half attempts would add up to a whole movie, but it didn't quite work out that way). I'm certainly no head injury specialist, but the main characters disability wasn't the most believable. He seems pretty much fine, except for some problems with memory, which makes the latter part of this movie much less interesting. Levitt's character just didn't feel right to me at all. He didn't seem to be super into the role, and his performance was a little uneven. I saw a lot of shade thrown Jeff Daniels' way in other people's reviews, but honestly, he was one of the highlights of this production. His character was incredibly likable, both witty and amusing, and he played the role of a blind man very convincingly. Isla Fisher was also solid. Probably the best overall performance, and the one that felt the most genuine. Personally, I would have liked to see that part of the story flushed out a little bit more. It could have have added some much needed drama to the second half of the movie, and raised the stakes considerably for our main character. But instead, its there and gone just as quickly, having almost no bearing on the plot whatsoever. Things in general moved along too slowly for my liking. The whole first half is setting up a character that I still felt no connection to, and the second half was a underwhelming robbery that I couldn't care less about. It might have helped to show his life before the accident, to get a sense of how he used to be. You know... Happy and what not. But we only see him now, and there's nothing to compare it to save for one flashback and the opening scene. And it just wasn't enough to feel for the character, and the struggles he had to overcome. I honestly didn't pay much attention to how it was filmed, or to the score, but I guess that means that neither were remarkable. I don't know, the whole thing just felt like a lower budget production to me. Like they didn't put the most effort into making it. The writing was questionable, the script was nothing special, and the whole thing lacked believability. Things did come together nicely towards the end, where our main character used everything he had learned to "win the day". I get that it was supposed to be inspiring, and maybe a little ironic, but I still didn't feel any sort of way about it. Then at the very end, much like in the beginning, we get a brief glimpses of what happens outside of the main story. Stuff that would have been interesting and helpful to include, but was rushed through instead. I really tried to like this one, because a heist movie with a reprehensible twist is something that I've never seen before. But cool idea or not, the execution simply wasn't there to make this any better than average.

This was such a compelling film with exceptional acting and storyline. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels were both exceptional as usual. It's definitely worth the watch.

The most annoying actors by a long shot. Learn to act.

Levitt had a bad crash in highschool and deals with some memory issues. He's hoodwinked into a bank heist of the place where he cleans at night.

A enjoyable flick that does everything right with its characters and plot points, but doesn't blow my mind enough to call it great.

As soon as realizing the Ass h*le Jeff Daniels was in it-- thumbs down from me & millions of others for life. Terrible decision on any movie makers part to employee any of these loudmouth toxic clowns like Mark Ruffalo, Jim Carrey etc....and piss off/alienate half the country from the jump.

Watch it just to see Jeff Daniels comedy; he steals every scene he's in. Needs more Carla Gugino.

It took some lookout to get to second gear; nice drama and little but good action from a disable.

Really solid crime drama touching on many ailments such as brain damage, memory loss, PTSD, blindness, prosthetics, physical & emotional scars, even asthma shows up. JGL & Matthew Goode steal the show as well as Jeff Daniels in an effectively small role. A great debut from Scott Frank with a pretty riveting set-up to a dangerous climax.

Special look at the handicapped (I am one; physical). Daniels is blind but he can see the substance of people and things and Levitt is able to see but his mental ability makes him unable to process ones soul.

Another solid noir throwback from Gordon Levitt. It's a middle of the road thriller, and some choices the character makes are a little maddening, but I enjoy the added element of brain damage to muddy up the waters.

It was okay. I'm not sure what the focus was because the bank robbery felt like a side note and I couldn't buy into the brain damage angle, especially when he's rooming with a blind ‘Harry Dunne.'

An absolutely rotten embarassment. Offers little more than a 90 minute extrvaganza of toe-curling cringe. Fails on almost every conceivable level.

Interesting with the PTSD issue, but other than that it was a boring let down. It was on Paramount.

First off I think this movie has great story and some really thawed out characters. Gordon-Levitt's character has an amazing backstory and deals with a big inner dilemma in the movie. The first scene makes me believe it's going to be a cheesy backstory, when really it's actually very heart wrenching. Then they show the aftermath of his mistake and, yes it does make you sympathize with him a little bit, but he was still the cause of it which makes it hard to root for him a bit. I did like that it was a different kind of backstory then the typical movie tropes. The movie moves along really well and the pacing is quite good. The best part of the movie is Jeff Daniels. His character, relationship, and chemistry with Gordon-Levitt is off the charts. Lastly the ending is very good and it wraps up the movie really well. What holds it back is how oblivious the cops the whole movie. This movie should gain more recognition because it was pretty good. I'd give it like an 79%.

It’s hard for me to start this review without touching on one of my biggest criticisms of The Lookout, because it is the title. When you start with a title like that, you have basically spoiled what is coming. Therefore, the extremely slow build-up this movie takes to get us to the point where our main character realizes he’s going to be “the lookout” is tough to endure. I do like all the background information that the movie feeds us at the outset, and it is vital that we get a good understanding of how Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character thinks. I just wish the title were different so I didn’t feel like the movie was spinning its wheels pretending that these strangers have good intentions when we know a crime is on the horizon. There could be some good twists and turns in his relationship with Isla Fisher, but instead we can see where that is headed from the moment we meet her. It’s not a flaw in the story-telling, it’s just a mistake in labelling that is a detriment to the first viewing experience. Also, before I move into all the things I loved about The Lookout, I have to mention how odd it is that the main character is named “Chris Pratt” when an actor by the same name would become extremely famous less than a decade later. I actually started chuckling every single time someone would call him by his full name. Now all the good stuff... I thought they did a great job of defining how Chris’s brain works. The constant notes to help with memory issues, the weak filter on what he says, and his short fuse all contribute to a truly unique protagonist. Later on, the movie makes full use of these traits in order to move the story forward. I think the entire final act of The Lookout is one of the better-constructed sequences I’ve seen in a crime-thriller. It is loaded with surprises that I didn’t see coming, and it’s rare that I watch a movie like this and don’t feel three steps ahead of the screenwriter. The wrap-up at the end felt like it might have been a stretch, but I was willing to buy into it because the climax had me on such a high. There were a few loose threads that they never resolve, but I was able to fill in the blanks for myself and was willing to accept that some of these questions don’t need to be answered. I also need to give special recognition to the acting in The Lookout, because it is top-notch. JGL embodies this character and gets his quirks just right, and Matthew Goode (ironically) is great at being bad. I also enjoyed Jeff Daniels’ amiable performance as the blind best friend. The Lookout is a film that I enjoyed a great deal, and would probably have loved even more if it weren’t for that stupid title. A second viewing, knowing what to expect, would probably be even better.

Realistic but relies too much on a predictable formula

Underrated movie with an impressive cast. It's easy to see how Joseph Gordon Levitt got to where he is with movies like this.