The Lookout

Hunter Rider

Hunter Rider

Ronin
Staff member
Joined
Oct 24, 2004
Messages
160,364
Reaction score
9,868
Points
203
http://comingsoon.net/films.php?id=16691

Release Date: March 23, 2007 (limited)
Studio: Miramax Films
Director: Scott Frank
Screenwriter: Scott Frank
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Aaron Berg, Kalyn Bomback, Alex Borstein, Paul Christie, Sergio Di Zio, Morgan Kelly, Suzanne Kelly, Tracy McMahon, Toni Reimer, Janaya Stephens, Laura Vandervoort, Courtney-Jane White

Plot Summary: "The Lookout" marks Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Scott Frank's ("Out of Sight") directorial debut. The intelligent crime drama is centered around Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "Mysterious Skin"), a once promising high school athlete who becomes mentally impaired after a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist. The film also stars Jeff Daniels ("The Squid and the Whale"), Isla Fisher ("Wedding Crashers"), Matthew Goode ("Match Point") and Carla Gugino ("Night at the Museum").
Click to expand...

lookoutoscr2.jpg

 
Sounds cool.
It's got Isla Fisher in it, so I'm there.
Glad to see Gordon-Levitt in something.
 
I'm kinda upset I didn't get to audition for this movie.
 
Catman said:
Chill.

Well, anyway, it looks good. :yay: And, Isla Fisher is in it so thats good enough for me. :oldrazz:
Click to expand...

You didn't think i was actually mad did you ?:huh: it was just an alternative to bump:cwink:

So has anyone actually watched the trailer
 
http://thelookout-movie.com/

So I had never even heard of this film until I saw the Ad at the top of the Hype.


This looks great, I hope it rocks and I really hope that this film can be big for JGL, I hope that this film opens up more doors in his career.

He is by far one of te most talented younger actors out there and he just deserves hs one big break....I thought that it might hve come wih 10 Things I hate About You, but it didn't

Anyway, this march go see the Lookout.
 
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31435

Moriarty Caught THE LOOKOUT!!

Scott Frank’s pretty much the textbook definition of a good Hollywood screenwriter. He’s got real chops on the page... reading what he writes is a pleasure. But beyond that, he writes movies. Not just screenplays, but films. You see them as you read his scripts. It’s no wonder directors have always snapped at the chance to work on his material. He lays it all out for them, and when the directors have collaborated with him, the results have been distinctive and original. OUT OF SIGHT. HEAVEN’S PRISONERS. MINORITY REPORT. GET SHORTY. MALICE. DEAD AGAIN. LITTLE MAN TATE. All of those films play with their genre in a very knowing way, and I’m not sure Frank gets enough credit for his influence on the films.

With THE LOOKOUT, he’s finally the guy in charge. He wrote and directed the movie, and the result is a simple, unadorned pleasure, a thriller that actually thrills. This isn’t a post-modern riff on the noir genre or a stylistic throwback that knowingly twists the conventions of noir or anything of the sort. It’s not meta-text at all. There’s no smirk. No wink. It is not pastiche or homage or whatever. It’s just a good story. Well told. And characters that live and freakin’ breathe.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s been working on one hell of a resume lately, and I admit it. I’m impressed. I don’t think anyone can argue anymore. He’s the best in his weight class, and he’s so good that he’s started to remind me of someone, a name I rarely invoke: River Phoenix. I think he’s that good, and I think as long as he works with strong creative partners, he’s going to be a heavy hitter in the next few years. Even in a film as godawful as SHADOWBOXER, he acquits himself with a performance that simply outclasses the material. If you’ve seen the trailer for this movie, you might be tempted to compare the film to MEMENTO. Don’t. This isn’t a game on the viewer that builds to some sort of surprise twist. Instead, it’s a character-driven thriller, and it builds to a very fitting finale, never trying to outsmart you in the process. Gordon-Levitt plays Chris Pratt, a small-town golden kid who ****ed up one night in high school when driving three of his friends. There was a horrible car accident, and when Chris finally woke up, he was different. Damaged. Permanently changed.

At first, that’s all the film is about. Chris has a frustrating daily life, and he does his best to keep his cool. When it does become too much to take, he can count on Lewis (Jeff Daniels), his roommate, to talk him down every time. Lewis is blind, a sardonic, obnoxious presence who fills every room he walks into, and he’s a good influence on Chris. Chris has a job as a janitor at night at a small-town bank. He goes to classes at a life-studies program to help him deal with the after-effects of his injury. Sometimes he loses control of himself. Sometimes he cries. He remembers everything leading up to the accident, and everything after the accident, but he doesn’t remember the accident. He drives past the site of it every couple of weeks. He thinks about it every day. He carries the scars of it.

When he finally runs into Gary (Matthew Goode), it doesn’t feel like plot mechanics kicking in. Gary’s a monster. There’s no other way to put it. He’s a well-realized monster, a character with interesting edges and quirks, but he’s also genuinely menacing. I didn’t recognize Goode when I was watching the film, and I’m still having trouble connecting him in this movie to the excellent work he did Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT. The guy’s a chameleon, and his work here should open even more doors for him. Isla Fisher plays the honey trap, and the only issue I have with the script is the lack of resolution regarding who she really is or where her sympathies really lie. She’s great in every single moment she’s onscreen, and her work with Gordon-Levitt is sweet and sad. Greg Dunham, who I’ve never seen in anything ever, is a strong menacing presence as Gary’s main henchman Bone.

Alar Kivilo’s been building a solid track record over the last few films, shooting some lovely commercial films. No matter what you thought of them as scripts or finished films, THE LAKE HOUSE and THE ICE HARVEST are both visually accomplished films, as are movies like FREQUENCY and A SIMPLE PLAN. Kivilo does a nice job here of setting a tone and gradually turning the screws on Gordon-Levitt. He’s talked into helping with something that he regrets, and when he tries to dig himself out of it, things go from bad to miserably ****ty real quick. Like I said... no one’s trying to set you up for a twist here. The pleasure is simply watching Chris try to dig himself out of this moral quicksand before he drowns.

In this way, this isn’t an imitation of noir or an exercise; this is the real deal. And so is Scott Frank. Here’s hoping this marks the beginning of him making his own work, because this first time out is a heck of a debut.

The film opens the SXSW Festival next month, and then opens in limited release on March 23.
Click to expand...

Sounds like this one lives up to the trailer which i thought looked great
 
Between the trailer and Mori's review, Im there.:up:
 
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a real promising young talent and it's good to see a guy make the transition from writer into director so well
 
wow, can't wait for this movie..

really different roles for levitt, fisher, and especially goode.
 
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31792

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

J-Skell’s been MIA for a little while, but he’s back strong today with two new reviews. I’ve already seen and reviewed THE LOOKOUT this year, and I find I’m still thinking about the amazing firefly sequence at the start of the film. I’m curious to see how it does at SXSW next week.

Until then, check out this reaction:

Scott Frank has written some pretty solid scripts in his time: OUT OF SIGHT, MINORITY REPORT, GET SHORTY, LITTLE MAN TATE, DEAD AGAIN, and got his start on a little show called THE WONDER YEARS. The truth is we don't even know the true prolific nature of his work since he's done so many un-credited rewrites of A-list movies. This time Frank finally has his chance in the driver seat as he has written and directed the new feature THE LOOKOUT, a project he's had in gestation for over 10 years. There were a lot of great directors attached to this one at various points: Sam Mendes, David Fincher, Michael Mann. I'm sure they all would have made great films from this script, but under Frank's first time direction he gives the film something truly unique and important.

The unique thing I'm talking about is simplicity. The film is taught and straightforward, and careful never to take the focus away from its subjects. It's a rare thing in Hollywood today, where the style over substance is pretty much commonplace. Even those directors who do pride themselves on substance tend to showcase it with a little bit of bravado. So Frank directed it straightforward and by the book, and that's what makes the film fantastic. I'm an absolute sucker for a sharp script and this is one of the best in the bunch. What's so great is there's no real gimmicks; even the main character's memory loss device comes across realistically, it's nothing like MEMENTO. The biggest screenwriting mistake is when a writer will sacrifice the honesty of a character for the sake of plot/pretty much anything else. Frank has always been pretty great about avoiding that and here is a perfect example. These characters earn every single moment in film (especially in a great scene where Matthew Goode's character delivers a monologue that would seemingly be a really, really tough sell). It's a great achievement and one that will largely go unnoticed.

There really is a lot to celebrate about this film. Joseph Gordon Levitt is starting to prove he's someone who really cares about integrity. He's a good actor who's looking for great roles in even better movies. This marks 2 for 2 in his recent work (yeah BRICK!). He's great as Chris Pratt and really carries the ethos of the film. Jeff Daniels brings his usual A-game as his blind roommate and carries most of the emotional weight as well as humor of the film. Matthew Goode really surprised me here as the bank-robber heavy. This role was about as un-dapper British guy as you can get and he pulls it off. Congrats to him on carrying the films pivotal scene I mentioned before that could have easily been a train wreck. Convincing good people to do bad things is hard in movies. This is a great example of how to do it right. There's a couple of other good token performances too. Isla Fisher AKA Mrs. Borat gets a nice little role here that may seem smaller than it really is. Her scene with Jeff Daniels subsequently taps into a nice bit of ethos that really resonated with me. And SPOILER WARNING! (the moment where the goofy, nice guy rent-a-cop finally has to do his job is one of the most satisfying cinema moments I've seen in recent memory. It defies Hollywood convention and yet makes total sense within the story. GREAT call.) END SPOILER

So in short, THE LOOKOUT, is great and will probably float under the radar. I worry that films with a tough sell today need some hook in order to get people talking about them. Like the way CHILDREN OF MEN had the cinematography. THE LOOKOUT only has that memory loss device and that would make it seem too much like MEMENTO for people. And the problem is this film is nothing like MEMENTO. It's something else, and maybe even something better.

So here's my hook which I hope will convince people to actually see this move: "THE LOOKOUT is really ****ing good"… even with it's damn-awkward last shot… Damn I hated that shot.

Eh. Can't win em all.

Enjoy,
J-Skell
 
I dunno, the trailer I saw made it look like a wannabe-Memento. I'll still check it out though. I mean..Memento rocked, so ergo...
 
^^^

I am not going to see any clips from this movie, because I really want to have no idea what will happen during screening (just like it worked with Memento and Donnie Darko) ;) :up:
 
I'm intrigued.
Looks dark which is certainly a :up:
 
Richard Roeper is calling it "An Instant Masterpiece".

It's at 90% at RT
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hunter Rider
Smaller movies you are looking forward to in 2007
Replies
23
Views
2K
The Chairman
The Chairman
A
Near Dark (Remake)
Replies
24
Views
2K
Advanced Dark
A
Galactus
Studios and Production Companies set their pre-strike priorities
Replies
22
Views
3K
antsman41
antsman41

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Staff online

Members online

Total: 915 (members: 20, guests: 895)

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
201,164
Messages
21,908,426
Members
45,703
Latest member
BMD

Share this page

Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"