Fine job by writer/director Scott Frank. The dialog is better, more realistic and clever, than might be expected in a movie about a bank robbery and Frank's direction enhances its value. The fine performances keep the production in the upper ranks. No stylistic razzle dazzle, no showing off, no slow motion, no high speed pursuits, no brains blown up against the ceiling, hardly any profanity, and only one stereotype in the bunch. Now THAT'S unusual.
I admire the way Frank, and the excellent cinematography, has captured the mood of wintry, small-town Kansas. Poor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an after-hours janitor at the local bank, was brain damaged in a car accident. He may never have been too sophisticated to begin with and the spotty damage hasn't helped any. But make no mistake. He doesn't act oddly. He doesn't twitch, stutter, or turn in circles like Thelonius Monk. He's normal, he's articulate, and he knows what's going on around him. But he's not sophisticated and he has problems with sequencing and memory.
Thus it's easy for a gang of five hoodlums to rope him into acting as a lookout on the night of their planned bank robbery. Gordon-Levitt (who must shorten his name) is alienated from his family. They may invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner but they're uncomfortable when he's around because his hand shakes when he tries to use a fork and because he pipes up without adumbration with dramatic announcements. It's beautifully played by Gordon-Levitt -- a fundamentally decent young man who is next door to stupid and has a few holes in his brain.
But then everyone is quite good and the keen dialog gives them a chance to make the most of their talent. The young girl who seduces Gordon-Levitt is instrumental in sweeping him up into the contrivance might easily have been written an awful bitch, but she's not. She knows what her job is, but not ALL of the plan. She's aghast when she discovers a great big six shooter in the gang leader's baggage.
The leader is Mathew Goode and he holds up his end of the film. He's about the same age as the victim of the plot but far smoother, reassuring, understanding, a nice guy who explains why they intend to rob the banks -- it's not the poor farmers' money; it's the greedy corporate agribusinesses that are stealing from the hard working sons of the soil, etc. I expect that this justification is limited to movie bank robbers, and the real ones just want the moolah.
There is a final confrontation or two that gave the director multiple opportunities to show eyeballs being blown out and all the usual splatter effects. He doesn't do it, blessings be upon him. There is tension and there is blood but only enough to fit the occasion.
So, in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, don't expect bathtubs full of gore and don't expect a showy performance of a retarded or crazy central figure. This is credible stuff.
I admire the way Frank, and the excellent cinematography, has captured the mood of wintry, small-town Kansas. Poor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an after-hours janitor at the local bank, was brain damaged in a car accident. He may never have been too sophisticated to begin with and the spotty damage hasn't helped any. But make no mistake. He doesn't act oddly. He doesn't twitch, stutter, or turn in circles like Thelonius Monk. He's normal, he's articulate, and he knows what's going on around him. But he's not sophisticated and he has problems with sequencing and memory.
Thus it's easy for a gang of five hoodlums to rope him into acting as a lookout on the night of their planned bank robbery. Gordon-Levitt (who must shorten his name) is alienated from his family. They may invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner but they're uncomfortable when he's around because his hand shakes when he tries to use a fork and because he pipes up without adumbration with dramatic announcements. It's beautifully played by Gordon-Levitt -- a fundamentally decent young man who is next door to stupid and has a few holes in his brain.
But then everyone is quite good and the keen dialog gives them a chance to make the most of their talent. The young girl who seduces Gordon-Levitt is instrumental in sweeping him up into the contrivance might easily have been written an awful bitch, but she's not. She knows what her job is, but not ALL of the plan. She's aghast when she discovers a great big six shooter in the gang leader's baggage.
The leader is Mathew Goode and he holds up his end of the film. He's about the same age as the victim of the plot but far smoother, reassuring, understanding, a nice guy who explains why they intend to rob the banks -- it's not the poor farmers' money; it's the greedy corporate agribusinesses that are stealing from the hard working sons of the soil, etc. I expect that this justification is limited to movie bank robbers, and the real ones just want the moolah.
There is a final confrontation or two that gave the director multiple opportunities to show eyeballs being blown out and all the usual splatter effects. He doesn't do it, blessings be upon him. There is tension and there is blood but only enough to fit the occasion.
So, in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, don't expect bathtubs full of gore and don't expect a showy performance of a retarded or crazy central figure. This is credible stuff.