The Big Screen

With friends like these

Of all the unexpectedly successful transitions from small screen to big, former TV alien Joseph Gordon-Levitt is definitely among the most interesting cases.

His extraordinary work in Brick and Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin actually made me revisit Third Rock from the Sun. If you pay attention to the reruns, you can spot in the precocious child actor the potential he's fulfilling lately.

Brain-damaged ex-high school hockey star Chris Pratt in The Lookout, screenwriter Scott Frank's directorial debut, isn't as showy a role as Gordon-Levitt's other recent choices, but it could be his breakout. The victim and cause of a car accident that killed two friends and turned him into a different person, Chris lives with blind, belligerent Lewis (a great turn by Jeff Daniels) and resents a newly limited life cleaning his small town bank.

"The Lookout"

Opens Friday

Grade: B

When he's befriended by alpha male Gary (Matthew Goode) and his gorgeous companion Luvlee (Isla Fisher), Chris gets some of his confidence back, but soon his redeveloping cognitive skills put together exactly what Gary wants from the friendship—access to the bank.

While it's not the most original tale, Frank moves it along briskly. And until the filmmaker undermines his leading man for the usual narrative closure, Gordon-Levitt builds and holds an empathetic connection between Chris and the viewer.

—Melissa Starker

East meets West

Beside the hundreds of Bollywood movies that are produced annually, another crop of films with Indian relations has emerged in recent years—Desi movies. Ranging from Bend it Like Beckham to the locally made Green Card Fever, the genre shares a name with South Asians who've emigrated abroad and usually centers on the conflict between tradition and modern culture within young Indians who've spent most of their lives in the West.

With her sprawling family saga The Namesake, an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, director Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala) continues her own interest in Desi movie themes but adds unique depth and originality.

Spanning three decades and two continents, the movie follows arranged life partners Ashima (Tabu), a traditional girl with a beautiful voice, and bookish engineer Ashoke (Irfan Khan) as they meet, marry, move to the U.S. and raise a family. Soon, we're introduced to their teenage boy Gogol (Kal Penn), a rebellious stoner with contempt for his heritage.

"The Namesake"

Opens Friday

Grade: A-

If you expect that something will happen to make Gogol mature and appreciate tradition, you'll get that, but so much more as well. Even when attention is shifted to the son, his fascinating parents aren't given the short shrift.

Each of the actors playing them (even Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj star Penn) create memorable, endearing characters that are tough to leave when the lights go up.

—Melissa Starker

March 29th, 2007