Erase, rewind

The Lookout (Scott Frank, 2007)

I can remember Joseph Gordon-Levitt as that sweet kid who'd frequent in teenybopper movies whether playing as some hotshot or just another kid around the block that you'd thought he would be stuck with such rubbish forever. But Joe is also one of those kids who grew up to become a worthy actor given the right vehicle. In Scott Frank's directorial debut The Lookout you'd realize he's just around the corner waiting for that overdue break. (He also gave an incendiary performance in Rian Johnson's debut film Brick.)

Joe plays a psychologically-damaged teenager Chris Pratt once a big-shot hockey star player until one night of disaster ruined it all. Now he is forced to shy away from his rich life and confine himself to the daily rigors of memory retention. The car crash affected his short term memory that even finding the correct sequence to simple tasks like opening a can of tomato sauce seems a chore to do. He has to dig deep in his mind the steps to accomplish such task rendering him helpless and impatient at times. To be able to properly remember these routinary sequence, he writes the steps down in his little notebook or put post-its in conspicuous places (reminiscent of Guy Pearce's character in Memento).

This day-to-day, almost routinary coping with the rigors demanded by his deficiency would take another dangerous turn when he meets up with a group of bank robbers. What seemed to be a nonchalant friendly encounter with a charming thug Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode, he played Scarlett Johansson's fiancee in Woody Allen's Match Point) will play out as a deliberate attempt to coax him into being the lookout in the group's carefully-plotted heist of the small-town bank where Chris works as the night-time attendee-janitor (makes you wonder how small can this small-town bank be). To lure him into the devil's lair, he is seduced by Luvlee Lemons (Isla Fisher) whose character would take an interesting turn in the latter part. Also in Spargo's gang is the the wordless Bone, menacing and undoubtedly cold-hearted.

Frank who wrote Get Shorty and Out of Sight, is purposeful and efficient in his directing as is his writing. Clearly, we know where it is headed and he doesn't jazz up the ante by concocting some cocky twist along the way. This is the kind of project that the writer-directors are meant to do. The mood is upped thanks to the equally brilliant cinematography of Alar Kivilo (Fargo, A Simple Plan). The breathtaking panorama of the snowy background is a perfect contrast to Chris's claustrophobic and bland workplace and apartment. The quick-cut editing during scenes where frustrated Chris does a chore easily distinguishes his character. What is also amazing is the sense of bewilderment on the dreamlike character of Chris' girlfriend (after the crash) appearing everytime he watches the skiers. The film does not end happily enough though but we can deal with it no matter how much we would want life to be better for Chris.

From what I've seen so far, Jeff Daniels portrays one of the year's best supporting performances. His portrayal of Lewis, Chris' blind caretaker, is nuanced and touching and Daniels plays it out so effortlessly (I think he was really terrific in The Squid and the Whale). In one particular scene where Chris tells him his going to move, we feel his hurt despite his sunglass-covered eyes. But outstanding of them all is Joe, who gets into such a complex character, whose emotions and difficulty appear most to the audience than the people around him. His confusion, frustration is in stares of his eyes - when he looks at the screen before it freezes, it's both pitiful and haunting.