"Whoever has the money has the power": the tagline for Scott Frank's stylish directorial debut "The Lookout". Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was the star of his high school's hockey team, beloved by everyone, until he was involved in a terrible car accident and became mentally impaired. Four years later, we find Chris cleaning floors at a small town bank. Since the accident he has taken to making note of all his actions to help him keep track of things. "I wake up. I look outside, so that I know what to wear. I take a shower, with soap." - the poignant voiceover of Chris narrates. His life is completely planned and unsurprising. That is, until he is befriended by a man at a bar called Gary (Matthew Goode), who lets him on a secret. Him and his friends are planning to rob the bank where Chris works, and want him to help out. They want him to be the lookout. This heist thriller did relatively poorly at the box office and passed a lot of people by, although winning Best First Feature at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards. Gordon-Levitt puts in a strong and believable performance as Pratt, ensuring the sympathies of the audience, while a highly likeable Jeff Daniels plays Chris's blind, guitar-playing roommate Lewis, who brings some comic relief when necessary. Frank uses these two characters as a base for the film, while studying the effects that the heist has on them, and their relationship. Isla Fisher also stars as Luvlee Lemons (yes, she's a stripper), a friend of Gary's, who is used as bait to convince Chris to join their gang. The sleepy and snowy setting of a small town in Kansas helps add to the tense atmosphere the director achieves in the second half of the film. The violence in later parts is very realistic, but shocking nonetheless and in no way glorified. There are some plot holes which took me out of the film a bit (would Chris really be allowed to drive unsupervised?) but these are few and far between, and did not detract any from my enjoyment of it. Frank keeps this noir understated, maintaining a dark, eerie tone throughout and surprising with a highly powerful climax. "The Lookout" is more than your average crime drama: mixing complex characters, endearing drama, and suspenseful action to grip the audience for the full 99 minute run time, and is much deserving of a wider audience.