Looking for an engrossing character study crossed with a heist film? Well, have I got a movie for you. The Lookout advertises itself as a movie about a bank robbery where one of the characters is manipulated into assisting until the tables get turned. Sounds rather simplistic, but there is much more to it than that. The heist actually turned out to be a small part of the story, sure it is a tense buildup, but it is so much more about the main character, played by the ever impressive Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The film opens with a turning point in young Chris Pratt's (Gordon-Levitt) life. It is a scene of initial beauty, immediately followed by tragedy that will forever scar the young man. Pratt was a high school hockey star, one of the cool, popular kids that had everything going for him, pretty girlfriend, rich family, the sky was the limit. While out with his friends, heading to a party, there is a horrific car accident that leaves two of his friends dead, his girlfriend seriously injured, and himself with brain damage.

We pick up the story a year removed from the accident. Chris is attempting to put his life in order, struggling with the effects of brain damage. He has issues with sequencing events, remembering what he needs to do. In addition to that he has some impulse and anger control issues, all of which conspire to keep him from living a normal life. To help him deal with his life, he goes to classes on how to structure life and is rooming with a well-adjusted blind man, Lewis (Jeff Daniels), serving as his mentor.

Chris works as a night janitor at a small bank, where he aspires to gain enough control to become a bank teller, but is summarily denied by the manager due to his sequencing issues. One night after work he runs into an old acquaintance from his high school days, Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode), who accepts Chris for who he is now and introduces him to an ex-stripper named Luvlee Lemons (Wedding Crasher's Isla Fisher), who is more than eager for a hookup with the former hockey star. Before Chris knows it, he is being manipulated by his new "friend" to assist in a burglary of the bank that he works at.

Of course, the heist does not go as planned, as Chris is able to gain the upper hand. While this heist is an interesting thread, it is merely a thread in the character study that is Chris. Here is someone who lives with daily reminders of the tragedy in his past, living with his culpability over what happened, not to mention the fact that he has to rely on notes and routine just to get through the day. It is fascinating watching Chris struggle with all of this, and draw a newfound strength from the heist that seems to move him in the right direction, towards forgiving himself and taking steps towards redemption.