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The Lookout

The Lookout (2007)

tomatometer

87

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 165
Fresh: 144 | Rotten: 21

The Lookout is a genuinely suspenseful and affecting noir due to the great ensemble cast and their complex, realistic characters.

86

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 5

The Lookout is a genuinely suspenseful and affecting noir due to the great ensemble cast and their complex, realistic characters.

audience

72

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 76,719

My Rating

Movie Info

A former high-school hockey star handicapped in a tragic car accident becomes an unlikely ally to a crack team of determined bank robbers in this thriller starring Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When his promising career on the ice is suddenly cut short, former athlete Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt) goes to work as a janitor in a local bank. Cleaning floors soon gives way to criminal enterprise when the onetime puck-slinger is recruited to help clean out the very bank that employs him.

R, 1 hr. 42 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Scott Frank

Aug 14, 2007

$4.5M

Miramax

Cast

All Critics (165) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (21) | DVD (29)

Frank has cooked up an interesting moral dilemma for a character ill-equipped to deal with one. Chris has made one big mistake. Is he up for another?

May 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A straight-ahead drama, perfectly accessible though psychologically intricate, coupled shrewdly to a crime thriller.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | Comment
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie is sometimes deliberately paced, then intensifies at unlikely moments, artfully blending pulse-stopping, nerve-jangling suspense with sharp dialogue and nuanced portrayals.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is Scott Frank's first feature as a director, and it speaks of more good things to come.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Although filmmaker Scott Frank is unable to sustain the initial intensity, he does a credible job of not signaling where the story is heading and ramps up excitement with a number of unexpected twists and turns.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A fine, slow-building affair.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A professional script professionally shot, rather than a personal story burning to be told

August 27, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

First-time director Scott Frank, who penned Out of Sight and Minority Report, shapes some sharp noirish notes.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comment
Boston Phoenix

The best young actor in movies today may well be Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

February 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | Comment
Fayetteville Free Weekly

The vast majority of his veteran contemporaries should be so lucky as to have their best dramas be as engrossing as Frank's first.

November 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | Comment
Hollywood.com

Lookout for this one and grab it.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | Comment
3BlackChicks Review

Maybe in 10 more years we'll be saying how weird it is that Gordon-Levitt used to play all those parts requiring him to crouch in corners taking other people's abuse. We should cross our fingers and put in a request for romantic comedy now.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review

Twisty heist flick is saved by star's performance.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Most noirs are coming of age stories where an innocent learns how vicious and cruel the world can be. Only he usually learns it while a hunk of hot lead burns in his gut.

April 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Beyond Hollywood | Comment
Beyond Hollywood

El asunto no es terriblemente novedoso, pero es un efectivo thriller construido sobre la base de personajes interesantes y alguna vuelta de turca final considerablemente lógica.

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

Strong performances fill this terrific crime drama.

February 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment
Oscar Guy

epibebaionei tin ypopsia poy eihes ligo meta tin arhi, oti tha parabei ton basiko kanona poy tosin ora soy promotare: den mporeis na peis mia istoria, an den ksereis poy thes na tin pas

January 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | Comment
Movies for the Masses

A perfect little movie about flawed characters.

January 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope

Solid, if somewhat derivative filmmaking. A quiet thriller with some great performances.

January 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | Comment
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

The straightforward routine story has plot holes you can drive a tractor through and a screenplay that's too clean for the messy story it's spinning.

December 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comments (2)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Certain scenes feel too glib and stagey, as though they've been doused with pop video gloss - particularly the snow, which surely had its own assistant, make-up artist and trailer.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment
Eye for Film

Engaging, smartly directed thriller with fantastic performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels, though the script commits a couple of glaring errors along the way.

November 3, 2007 Full Review Source: ViewLondon | Comment
ViewLondon

The Lookout is a well made psychological thriller which only disappoints with its ending.

November 2, 2007 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment
This is London

Full of memorable dialogue and sharp performances, it's let down only by its perfunctory climax.

November 2, 2007 Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | Comment
thelondonpaper

It's a pity Frank is too busy laying on the wintry atmospherics to make the story grip as it should.

November 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Lookout

Reminds me alot of Memento, except not as well done. The Lookout is very thrilling throughout, but I believe it could have had some better direction here and there. All in all, you should definitely watch this film if you are looking for a good mystery and suspense film.

March 30, 2012
Eric Alvarez

Super Reviewer

An engaging thriller. Nothing more, nothing less. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's acting is not bad, however it is not convincing to truly believe that his character is suffering through the disability that he is. Direction could've been better as well, but overall, a good movie.

June 14, 2011
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

    1. Chris Pratt: Once upon a time, I woke up. I took a shower, with soap.
    – Submitted by Christina L (9 months ago)
    1. Chris Pratt: That's her last name.
    2. Lewis: Luvlee Lemons? That's her name?
    3. Chris Pratt: Well, it's her stage name. She's a performer. Or she was.
    – Submitted by Steven P (11 months ago)
    1. Lewis: I smell money.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. Chris Pratt: I have the money. I have the power.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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