The Lookout

As a writer I should know that it's never a good idea to leave a piece unfinished for too long, because then it may never happen. At work at the paper I can push through and get something on paper because of that whole deadline requirement, but this blog has proved to be a different story.

I have a couple of drafts about films in the hopper, but those will be have to put off longer because of my recent viewing: The Lookout.
I came across the title while perusing Joseph Gordon Levitt's resume on IMDB. While I would have rented the film solely because he's the star, I was intrigued enough by the plot and rest of the cast to move it to the top of my Netflix queue.
Gordon Levitt is joined by Matthew Goode (Match Point) and Jeff Daniels in the "intelligent crime thriller," as billed by the Netflix DVD sleeve. Usually I don't give much bearing to those descriptions, but in anything else I read that is all I heard about the plot. The little research I did ended up being a blessing in disguise because I was able to experience the layers of the story as a surprise and without judgement.
Gordon Levitt plays Chris Pratt, a former high school hockey star who is in a serious car accident and suffers a brain injury. From then on Pratt is a different person trying to start his life over while battling the mental and physical side effects caused by his injury.
Creator Scott Frank takes much of the film reel focusing on this and Gordon Levitt met people in real life who experienced what his character did to prepare for the role. The "intelligent crime thriller" plot only comes into play in the background.
Pratt works as a janitor at a small town Kansas bank that a group of "bad guys" intend to rob, with his help of course. The bank robbers befriend Pratt and designate him to serve as the lookout in their plan.
Strangely, an idea that can only go wrong in some way and not be a good experience becomes part of Pratt's recovery and process to move forward from his tragic past.
The Lookout does good by its plot choice and will make you think enough that if you were going to try and write about it as I am now, several edits will be in order.
But I gave my draft a second, and third chance and for that I recommend you try The Lookout at least once.