The Lookout

Coupled with his astounding performances in Mysterious Skin and Brick, Third Rock from the Sun alum Joseph Gordon-Levitt is making a name for himself in Hollywood. Set against the backdrop of wintry Kansas, Levitt shines as Chris Pratt, a young man who succumbs to brain injury when he is involved in a car accident. Living his life day to day, Pratt learns to cope with his injury as he takes classes and cleans a bank at night. Little to his dismay, a group of thieves decide they want to rob the bank he cleans. There's just one catch - they need him to be the lookout.

From then on, the film spirals downward into betrayal, anger, and regret. Carefully acted, and even more carefully directed, the film takes the notion of classic film noir and blends it with modern-day character drama, culminating in a true tour de force.

In one of the finest roles of his career, Jeff Daniels stars as Levitt's blind friend. Daniels works well as a supporting character, and he shows his range as a great character actor. While some critics complain that the payoff for the film is not that great, I disagree. Directed by Scott Frank, the screenplay writer of The Interpreter and Minority Report, the film works wonders with a story that is rich with character devlopment and carefully calculated plot elements. The Lookout is one of the first great films of the year. A.