It’s exciting to see a young actor grow from childhood sitcoms to serious films, and I’m proud of the strong choices that Joseph Gordon Levitt is making.

From his hillarious romps with his fellow covert aliens in 3rd Rock from the Sun to his intensely powerful turn in the High School Noir film Brick, which I consider the sleeper of 2006.

And now he continues on that trend with the small-town, lonely winter bank heist film The Lookout

The film begins with beautiful tragedy. Gorgeous teens on prom night, driving down farm roads in search of a specific type of beauty that can only be found in small farm towns. Then tragedy strikes.

Chris Pratt, played by Levitt is now, four years later, still re-learning basic sequential functions like remembering to grind the coffee before making it, and where to find, (and how to use, and what the hell is a. . .) can opener. He’s helped along with his clever, blind roommate Lewis, played by the always wry and brilliant Jeff Daniels.

Chris also works as the night custodian of the local bank. Which is just a coincidental convenience for the local seductively charming bad-boy. Gary

The bank-heist formula is familiar: patsy gets sucked in by Gary’s charisma. As well as the chance to somehow get out of this “trap” that the accident put him in, (because money solves everything. . .) and of course, the chance to be “cool” again.

The tender folds of a former stripper named Luvlee Lemons (named WHAT? hahaha) of course helped as well.

The bank heist unfolds as movie bank heists often do, and the writer/director Scott Frank doesn’t score any major points in that department. He really shines in his artistry in revealling how this flawed man, struggling just to keep up with the world and weighted down by his guilt can rise to the call of heroism.

The Lookout is a beautifully crafted and magnificently acted, if predictable film. In the deluge of celluloid shit that comes out in theaters from January through March, The Lookout might just be the first good film of 2007.

Although. . . if you’ve seen Momento, as I’m guessing Mr. Frank has many, many times. . . well, I’m just saying you might also experience a strong sense of Deja Vu. . .