THE LOOKOUT Visual Review - Visual Hollywood

Visual Review
Everything you need to
know about
THE
LOOKOUT
…and how it relates to you
and the world around you.
Includes info on the
actors, director, with
news, reviews, and
photos.
visual review by
david bruce
visualhollywood.com

SHORT SYNOPSIS
Movies Contain the
Essence of Being Human
How can a man whose damaged mind can’t remember how to
make dinner put the screws to a ruthless gang of bank robbers
Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a night janitor who, in the
wake of a traumatic car accident, suffers from a leaky memory and
an unreliable sense of self that makes even everyday situations
challenging . . . and changes everything when he finds himself
swept up in a bold, multimillion dollar bank heist.

KEY ACTORS
The Cinematic Arts Have the
Power to Transform
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
(Chris Pratt)
Despite his young age has a wide range of
credits in both TV and film.
MATTHEW GOODE
(Gary Spargo)
Matthew Goode trained at the Webber Douglas
Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his
career on the stage.

KEY TALENT
Our Artists Are Our Liberators
Laurie MacDonald
Executive producer
Ranked #22 in
Premiere's 2003
annual Power 100
List with husband
and producing
partner Walter
Parkes.
Gary Barber
Producer
founded the
production, finance
and distribution
company, Spyglass
Entertainment.
Cinematography by
Alar Kivilo
In the early 70s he
moved to Toronto,
where an interest in
still photography,
prompted him to enroll
in the York University
film program.

ARTIST HIGHLIGHT
JEFF DANIELS
(Lewis)
was recently honored with
nominations for both a
Golden Globe and an
Independent Spirit award
for his work in the THE
SQUID AND THE WHALE.
Back home in Chelsea,
Michigan, he has continued
his passion for the theater
by founding the Purple
Rose Theater Company,
which he dedicated to
encourage and develop
midwestern actors,
playwrights, directors and
designers.
Actors are Liberators
in Masquerade

ARTIST HIGHLIGHT
ISLA FISHER
(Luvlee Lemons)
recognized for her performance
as Vince Vaughn’s off-kilter love
interest in WEDDING
CRASHERS.
Isla first appeared stateside in
the live action feature SCOOBY
DOO in 2002. She also made a
splash in I HEART HUCKABEES
for director David O. Russell and
recently wrapped the
independent THE PLEASURE OF
YOUR COMPANY, directed by
Michael Ian Black and costarring
Jason Biggs.
Actors help us: laugh, be happy, cry, get angry,
and even think. Can there be any better gifts

ARTIST HIGHLIGHT
SCOTT FRANK
(Writer/Director)
Scott Frank makes his directorial
debut with THE LOOKOUT, which
he also wrote. Frank earlier won
the Writers Guild of America
Award for Best Adapted
Screenplay, the Edgar Award from
the Mystery Writers of America, the
Best Screenplay Awards from both
the National Society of Film Critics
and The Boston Society of Film
Critics, as well as an Academy
Award® nomination for Best
Adapted Screenplay for OUT OF
SIGHT based on the novel by
Elmore Leonard.
Filmmakers are Revolutionaries
Posing as Entertainers

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Stories are Transforming
Chris had it all,
and then…
Director Scott Frank’s captivating tale revolves not only around
the crime but around the alternately heartbreaking and
exhilarating re-emergence of Chris Pratt, who was once a
Golden Boy athletic hero in his small midwestern town. Chris
had it all – a beautiful girlfriend, a well-heeled family and a

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
All Kids are Born Artistic
What is Natural is Essential
Chris has a serious accident…
…mental disability…
ends up a bank janitor….
But after a serious accident, Chris has found himself in a
strange new world where the most basic things seem to fall
through holes in his memory and nothing quite makes sense.
Unable to make it on his own, he lives with his mentor in
navigating this surreal life – the wisecracking, fiercely
independent blind man, Lewis (Jeff Daniels). For a job, Chris
sweeps the floor at the bank, waiting for his halted life to come

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Stories Embody the
Essence of Being Human
Suddenly, Gary, an old school
buddy, reenters Chris’ life…
Helps Chris find
a ‘girlfriend’…
Things suddenly shift when he meets Gary Spargo (Matthew
Goode), an old school acquaintance and street philosopher who
begins to revive Chris’ shattered confidence, even helping him
find a girlfriend – albeit a stripper named Luvlee Lemons (Isla

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Cinematic Story Telling is a
Profoundly Humanizing endeavor.
…and recruits Chris into his
grand plan to rob the bank…
But Gary has bigger plans, and when he recruits Chris into
his grand plan to rob the bank where he works, Chris appears
to be in way over his damaged head.

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Film making is a
Community Event.
The bank heist goes chaotic…
Chris now must outwit and
take down his manipulators
As the bank heist unravels into chaos, both Chris’ uncertain
future and even more importantly Lewis’ survival are on the line.
Now, it is up to this young outcast who can’t always think
straight to figure out how to outwit and take down his
manipulators . . . his own way.

LIFE CONNECTIONS
in THE LOOKOUT
Serious mental disorder
& blindness triumph
over ‘normality’
Art is a Liberating Force
Circumstance:
Chris has a serious mental
disorder. Kevin is blind.
Questions:
How can two handicapped
people use their disadvantages
to their advantage
What unique opportunities do
their ‘handicaps’ present
The story affirms:
1) The power self awareness.
2) The need to move beyond
denial.
3) The strength of a determined
individual
4) The value of a mentoring
friendship.

CRITICAL OPINION
of THE LOOKOUT
The Free Speech in the Arts
is a Mark of a Free Society
Substance triumphs over style in this
satisfying thriller for grown-ups
--Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Oh, The Humanity of a Heist… Gordon-
Levitt's worth the admission all by his
lonesome. He's that good
--Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice
First-time director Scott Frank pulls off an
enjoyable thriller thanks to his strong
script.
--Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Excitement with a number of unexpected
twists and turns.
--Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

FILM REVIEW by DAVID BRUCE
Moving from what you are not and into who
you are is a difficult thing. But, moving from
‘what’ to ‘who’ is always empowering . That’s
what makes this film so compelling.
Luvlee Lemons is a stripper (that’s ‘what’
she
is). She’s dispatched to seduce Chris into
Gary’s immoral scheme and ends up charmed
by his innocence (that’s the transforming
‘who’ who’).
Art is the Language
of Liberation
David Bruce
Severely mentally disabled Chris is flails
between despair and unrealistic ambition until
his blind mentor Lewis reorients Chris’
thinking saying, “Start at the end. You can’t tell
a story if you don’t know where it’s going.” He
moves Chris from ‘what’ he isn’t to ‘who’ he is.
Establish your life story by starting at the end.
by stating: “this is who I am” and then proceed
to live the story of becoming fully who you

FINDING TRUTH in
THE LOOKOUT
The awesome power of
a mentoring friendship.
Society is only as free as its arts. Art is
the voice of human freedom.

TRIVIA AND NEWS
Movie Making is the Convergence
of Many Talents and Art Forms
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT comments
on the story: “It’s rare that I get a script
I want to read all the way to the end. But
this script was just so well written and
every character was such a full human
being, , it made me excited to be an
actor. With Chris Pratt, Scott Frank had
created a hero who has so many layers
to him, who is so complicated, there’s
no one way to feel about him.
“The movie also blends two kind of
stories that don’t usually go together.
On the one hand you have this kind of
fun, exciting bank robbery and on the
other you have these heartfelt, in-depth
characters. I think it’s the humanity of
the characters that makes the heist part
so much more interesting.”

To Restrict Creativity is to
WHY MOVIES ARE SO IMPORTANT
Restrict the very Nature of
the Creator
"The meaning of life is the most urgent of
questions" --Albert Camus (Existentialist thinker).
In “Movies and the Meaning of Life” author Kimberly
Blessing points out that movies can help us reflect
on five of life’s most important questions:
1) What is reality and how can I know it
2) How can I find my true identity
3) What the significance of my interactions with
others
4) What’s the point of my life
5) How ought I to live my life
The idea behind Visual Hollywood is that Movies can
and must play an essential role helping us explore
the meaning of our existence and our life together.
No other quest is more necessary or important.
Movies are powerful. Movies bring personal
meaning, and can contribute to a peaceful world.
Cinematic story telling can be a transforming event.
Visual Hollywood takes
an existential approach
to life. We celebrate
with human freedom.
We use movies and the
arts as a means of
understanding the
human condition and
our collective relation
to the world around us.
Our basic quest is:
1. To know what it
means to be human in
the world.
2. The pursuit of human
freedom.

visual review by
visualhollywood.com
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