Review by Marty Mapes

Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brick) was in a car accident back in high school (he caused it, actually). The accident killed two of his friends and scarred both him and the other survivor. Nowadays he has trouble putting his life into order, literally. He can't sequence. He can't recall what order things happen in.

Chris was fixed up with his roommate Louis (Jeff Daniels) by a social services agency. Louis is blind, but between the two of them, they manage to hold down an apartment. The movie tells us pretty early that Chris is being played by some shady characters. We see them staking out the bank, watching Chris through the window. Later they "happen to" run into him at a bar.

There's some good tension to be had in the dramatic irony; we know that Chris is in danger, and we want to shout at the screen to tell him to be careful. But because of his head injury Chris is easily led astray.

The Lookout is both a psychological thriller and a movie about learning to cope with one's own mistakes. The movie feels like a novice effort, and indeed it is writer/director Scott Frank's directorial debut. Frank uses the grammar of film a little too well. Things are spelled out a little too perfectly. It's still a respectable independent thriller, but it could have been more fluid.

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