Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

Sometimes when I'm planning my week of screenings, I'll just scribble down the name of a film in my calendar and deliberately not do any advanced research on it before I go to the screening. Most times, this simply isn't possible. For example, it's kind of tough to pencil in a preview of, say, BLADES OF GLORY and not know what it's about going in. But with smaller films, it's quite possible that I will not even have seen a trailer for it. Sometimes I just like the elements of surprise and discovery. THE LOOKOUT is a movie worth discovering.

Strangely enough, two recent examples of times I walked into screenings blind to their content were the films BRICK and MYSTERIOUS SKIN, both of which starred LOOKOUT's lead, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who clearly has a gift for finding these great scripts and repeatedly proving that he's one of the great young actors working today. The film is an extraordinary and deceptively simple crime drama that puts you into the head of its perpetually frustrated and troubled young lead, who wants so desperately to be successful at anything that he turns to the seductive power of easy money. Gordon-Levitt plays Chris, a high school jock with a beautiful girlfriend and lots of admirers who is in a terrible car accident that kills two people and leaves him brain damaged. It's tough to explain exactly how his newfound handicap manifests itself, but Chris has memory issues and trouble organizing simple things. If you try and compare this film to MEMENTO, I'll scratch your eyes out. Trust me, the two films couldn't be any less similar.

We see Chris go through a typical day, which includes mental rehabilitation classes, meetings with his counselor (Carla Gugino), working as a janitor at a local bank and meals and conversation with his blind mentor roommate, nicely played by Jeff Daniels. But the overriding emotion that rules Chris's life is, as I mentioned, frustration. He misses his old life so much that it makes him angry sometimes, and he feels sorry for himself most of the time. This sets the stage for him to meet Gary (Matthew Goode), who claims to have known Chris's sister in high school. The two strike up a friendship in a bar, and it doesn't take long for Chris to become a part of Gary's circle of friends, which includes the lovely Luvlee Lemons (shockingly enough, a former stripper played by Isla Fisher). Gary's motives become all too clear soon enough as he persuades Chris to help the gang rob the bank where Chris works. Goode shows a side of his skills as an actor that I didn't even think existed. His snake-like charm is sometimes terrifying, but often he's just smooth as silk as he tempts Chris like the devil, making life with money look so much better than the life Chris has now.

Writer-director Scott Frank (a seasoned screenwriter who has written or adapted screenplays for OUT OF SIGHT, THE INTERPRETER, GET SHORTY, DEAD AGAIN, and MINORITY REPORT) shows us once again with his debut as a director that he knows how to weave an intriguing tale filled with characters you don't often see in films and make them compelling and complex. The bank robbery itself is almost the least important element of this film. Instead, Frank uses it as an excuse to assemble a fascinating collection of character studies. The great fun of the film is figuring out who really is the smartest one in the scenario. Gordon-Levitt has never been better, and he's been pretty damn great in just about everything I've seen him in lately. He's an actor that always chooses the quiet, intense burn over screaming and showboating (see Alpha Dog for about 50 examples of that).

Watching Chris navigate the world is to place yourself in his shoes and experience so much disappointment and fear, which is not to say the film is without humor and hope. There's plenty of that to go around as well. THE LOOKOUT perhaps ties itself up a little too cleanly in its final scenes, but there's a cautious optimism there that seems well earned and wholly appropriate. In addition to the terrific original screenplay, Frank delivers a film with an often-chilling atmosphere and absolutely solid performances. I've seen one or two better films this year, perhaps, but this is the first real self-discovery I've made in 2007, and I urge you to discover THE LOOKOUT for yourself. You may have to seek it out, but this one is well worth the effort.

Capone