Gary Spargo: My old man used to say to me, probably the only thing we ever really agreed on, was that whoever has the money has the power. You might wanna jot that down in your book. It's something you're gonna need to remember.
Disappointing would be the best adjective to describe very talented screenwriter Scott Frank''s (Out of Sight, Minority Report) directorial debut. A great plot is ruined by unrealistic dialogue and a cop-out ending. 'The Lookout' builds up this great story, but it never takes off. I kept waiting for the film to get interesting and when it finally did it only had 15 minutes left in the runtime. The best aspect about the movie is perhaps the acting. Joseph Gordon Levitt is outstanding as always as the film's hero suffering brain damage, while Jeff Daniels provides a powerful dramatic turn as Levitt's blind roommate. Isla Fisher is solid in an unimportant role, but I was not impressed with Mathew Goode's inarguably average performance as the movie's antagonist. Scott Frank's direction has moments of innovative brilliance but for the most it's average and uninteresting. Scott Frank's screenplay is absolutely devastating though. For such a great screenwriter, Frank turns out some pretty trite stuff. Like I previously mentioned, the plot is solid but the dialogue needs some serious work. All in all, 'The Lookout' was disappointing to me after reading all these positive reviews. 'The Lookout' is overall a good film whose positive qualities outweigh the bad qualities. I recommend it, but just don't be expecting anything groundbreaking or Oscar-worthy. Grade: B-
Disappointing would be the best adjective to describe very talented screenwriter Scott Frank''s (Out of Sight, Minority Report) directorial debut. A great plot is ruined by unrealistic dialogue and a cop-out ending. 'The Lookout' builds up this great story, but it never takes off. I kept waiting for the film to get interesting and when it finally did it only had 15 minutes left in the runtime. The best aspect about the movie is perhaps the acting. Joseph Gordon Levitt is outstanding as always as the film's hero suffering brain damage, while Jeff Daniels provides a powerful dramatic turn as Levitt's blind roommate. Isla Fisher is solid in an unimportant role, but I was not impressed with Mathew Goode's inarguably average performance as the movie's antagonist. Scott Frank's direction has moments of innovative brilliance but for the most it's average and uninteresting. Scott Frank's screenplay is absolutely devastating though. For such a great screenwriter, Frank turns out some pretty trite stuff. Like I previously mentioned, the plot is solid but the dialogue needs some serious work. All in all, 'The Lookout' was disappointing to me after reading all these positive reviews. 'The Lookout' is overall a good film whose positive qualities outweigh the bad qualities. I recommend it, but just don't be expecting anything groundbreaking or Oscar-worthy. Grade: B-