The Lookout is a strong, character driven heist film with terrific performances. While I think some critics are going a wee bit overboard with their enormous praise for the film, it is much better than your standard thriller.

In The Lookout, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Chris Pratt, a bank janitor struggling from the after affects of a head trauma, sustained following a horrific car crash. Because of the wreck, Pratt tends to forget things. So much so in fact, that he carries a tiny notebook around so he can jot down notes to remind himself of various things he's worried he might forget. Pratt has his good days and his bad days but he's kept in check, mostly by his good friend and roommate Lewis (an astounding Jeff Daniels), a blind man with a world of smarts on his side.

The Lookout does offer up thrills, and it is essentially a heist film, but ultimately, the movie isn't so much about the heist as it is a story about Pratt and his plight at finding redemption. In fact, the reason the heist plot works is because we care about this character and we don't want to see harm come to him.

The movie avoids many of the cliches often associated with films of this genre, and I really liked that about it. I was never entirely sure where the story was headed.

Screenwriter Scott Frank makes his directorial debut here and he does a good job building tension without over doing things. There's a certain believability to everything that transpires in this movie. We buy into the fact that Pratt would take part in this heist, and the way he's talked into it is very interesting.

There are moments of undeniable tension in The Lookout, my favorite being a shoot out sequence involving a small town police officer. This particular police officer is an extremely well drawn character. Frank is very deceptive in the way he introduces us to this seemingly nerdy guy, and when Deputy Donut's (as he's jokingly referred to) big moment comes, it's extremely unexpected (and exciting).

There are some things in the screenplay that aren't very well fleshed out. There's a fairly boring romance between Pratt and a clueless ex-stripper (played by Wedding Crashers' Isla Fisher). At one point in the movie she's suddenly just not there anymore. Sort of pointless if you ask me.

The cast is solid. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is shaping up to be one of our strongest young actors. This is really great work. He's sympathetic, understated and extremely fascinating to watch. He's come along way since his days on Third Rock. Jeff Daniels virtually steals the show as Lewis, Pratt's blind mentor. This character could have been a complete throwaway, but Daniels is so great here, that the entire movie is elevated to a higher level because of him.

Unlike many heist movies, The Lookout is more about characters than an actual event. When we finally get to the heist, the film has invested so much time in developing its key players that we actually care about what's going on. We don't want to see any of them get hurt. Particularly Pratt whom, we quickly learn has been taken advantage of on many levels.

Scott Frank has fashioned a quiet, unassuming little movie with outstanding performances and, for the most part, solid dialogue. I wasn't overwhelmed by the film, but I appreciated it's overall understated nature.