The Lookout is one of those movies where I tried to keep my expectations low, and found myself rewarded for taking a chance on the film in the first place.  Scott Frank wrote and directed this suspenseful and moving story of a young man trying to find his place in the world, and in his own head, after a serious accident from which he may never recover in more ways than one.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who you may remember what seems like ages ago as the youngest child on 3rd Rock From the Sun) gives a strong performance as Chris Pratt.  Once the envy of all the teenagers in his small Kansas town - jock, good looking, confident, with a beautiful girlfriend - Pratt causes a deadly car wreck one night, killing two of his best friends, injuring his girlfriend, and causing serious brain damage to himself.  Now four years later, still reeling from the guilt of what he did to himself and his friends, he suffers from memory loss.  Unable to keep reliable track of his daily routine, he has to keep writing in a notebook to avoid forgetting important but small details of life - things as simple as to use soap in the shower.

Working as a night janitor in the local bank, Pratt unwittingly becomes friends with a group who plan to convince him to help them rob the bank.  Between his mental problems and the desire to regain a sense of the friendships that surrounded him in the past, Chris is drawn into their plans and becomes a willing accomplice.  But how willing will he be when the time comes, and can the group succeed at all?  More importantly, how does this new direction of his life change who he is and how he feels about himself, the world, and his place in it?  Those questions are left for the film to answer.

Jeff Daniels does a wonderful job as a blind man sharing an apartment with Chris.  As a man who has learned to live with the sad state he put himself into, his character tries his best to lead Pratt into the world of acceptance, where he can deal with what he did and try to make the best of the life he is left with.  His character is a powerful reflection of the potential still living within Chris, if he can only find it.

Scott Frank keeps the suspense throughout the film.  Much in the way of Hitchcock's "bomb in the drawer", often in the film the viewer knows tragedy is about to strike, but the characters remain oblivious to the impending danger...just as people in real life would be.  Yet how the suspense will exactly play out is always a mystery until the next step reveals itself.

With broad comedy and family animation topping the box office this week, do yourself a favor and search out this gem of a movie instead.  Learning to forgive yourself not just for what you've done to others, but for what you've done to yourself, can be terribly difficult...I know that as well as (or better than) anybody.  In the end, that is this movie's message: whatever situation we've put ourselves in, it won't get much better until we learn to accept it, forgive ourselves for getting there, and then try to make the best of it.