Look [2007]

EMM# : 15009
Added: 2014-12-16

Look (2007)
The ultimate look at our Big Brother world.

Rating: 6.6

Movie Details:

Genre: Comedy (Crime| Drama| Thriller)

Length: 1 h 42 min - 102 min

Video: 608x352 (23.976 Fps - 838 Kbps)

Studio:

Location:

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Plot
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Americans are captured on surveillance cameras at least 170 times a day mostly without their knowledge. This produces millions of hours of footage revealing the nature of those hidden secrets.

Plot Synopsis:
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The Post-9/11 world has forever changed our notion of privacy. There are now approximately 30 million surveillance cameras generating more than 4 billion hours of footage every week in the United States. And the numbers are only growing. The average American is captured over 200 times a day - in department stores, gas stations, changing rooms, and even public bathrooms. No one is spared from the relentless, unblinking eye of cameras hidden in every nook and cranny of day-to-day life.

Shot entirely from the point of view of the security cameras. Adam Rifkin's "Look" follows several interweaving, storylines over the course of a random week in a random city.

A high school English teacher tries his best to be a decent husband; a department store floor manager uses the warehouse for more than just storage; a Mini-Mart clerk has big dreams; a lawyer struggles with a sexual dilemma; and two sociopaths thrive on ruining the lives of random strangers. "Look" tells five private stories which unfold before the prying eye of the covert camera to chilling effect.

We all choose to hide aspects our lives from those around us, whether it is as benign as picking our noses in an empty elevator or something much darker. "Look" poses the pivotal question: Are we always alone when we think we are?

"Look" around you and wonder... who is watching? [D-Man2010]

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Cremer79@aol.com from Hollywood, CA
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I recently moved to Los Angeles and had the unique opportunity of attending an advanced screening for "Look.". After the film, I had the pleasure of speaking with writer/director Adam Rifkin. He was humble and kind to me, even though I was simply an admirer of his film. We spoke for a good thirty minutes, and I felt it was appropriate and necessary to share my sincere thoughts on the film.

If it has ever bothered you that our daily existence on modern Earth is documented by security cameras at nearly second, then "Look" will offer a alarming glance into the lives of people going about their days without the slightest idea that they are being caught on tape. Shot entirely from the perspective of security cameras, "Look" offers a disturbing and at times hysterical view into the lives of ordinary individuals that are hurled into the path of extraordinary circumstances. It is difficult without hyperbole to give compliment to the innovative film-making that is "Look" by writer/director Adam Rifkin. From the shocking opening sequence, to the eloquent concluding montage, the security camera footage is seamlessly blended together into an engaging film. The dialogue is so natural and candid that you often forget you are watching actors execute the fictional story. The sharp screenplay was complimented by flawless and daring performances from the cast in the film. Every actor was successful at being true to the circumstances they were thrust into, and delivered their lines in a manner which seemed to disregard the presence of cameras in the production. "Look" is a breath of fresh air in the sense that you can go to the theatre and witness something entirely original, and be engaged from start to finish. One gets the sense that there is not an extraneous second in all of the footage; hence boredom is not likely while watching the film. Perhaps the most impressive attribute of the film is the tasteful blend of comedy and nail biting drama. It is refreshing to go to the movies and be able to laugh and cry (within the same film) and leave with the sensation that you have learned something.

After watching the film, one is left with the sensation that the abundant presence of security cameras today is downright disturbing. Aside from that aspect of the picture, the stories of the characters are enough to hold the audience's attention (if not hit close to home) from start to finish. The story centers on a confused husband, a gas station attendant, a high school teacher being relentlessly seduced by one of his students, a hedonistic department store manager, and an office worker who is being tormented by his coworkers. The fates of the characters are interconnected in a mystifying way, and only the audience has knowledge of this mysterious link. It is difficult to give description of the plot because it gives so much away that needs to be experienced and not simply described. I hope that my enthusiasm is enough to convince the reader that the plot and character dynamics are about as close to authentic and original as one can hope for in a movie. I simply don't want to give anything away.

"Look" is one of those rare films where you will leave the theatre having been simultaneously entertained, shocked, appalled, and enlightened. What more could one hope for out of a movie-going experience? There were times during the film that evoked a feeling of an eerie and hollow terror; an awesome compliment to the director who managed to take that type of desolation and marry it so effortlessly with comedy. There is no school that can teach a director to do that. It comes from experience. It comes from brushing up close and personal with the harsh realities of a universe that can make you laugh wild in one moment and the next moment take from you everything that you hold dear. That is the law of the land, and the director unquestionably knows this universal decree. Additionally, the interconnectedness of man is illuminated through the relationships of the characters. They are all related, and none of them know just how. It is this dynamic of the film that sends those shivers up your spine, and is the reason that many of us movie lovers still go to the theatre. Hence, the film exists on many levels as a very sophisticated and existential look into the nature of our day to day lives, and what happens when ordinary people must face intense conflict. At the same time, you can lower your high brow, and expect to laugh and have a good time. I could not be more thrilled about this film. What a treat to see that someone is actually straying from the Hollywood norm and doing something entirely innovative and engaging. It is proof that there is still magic in the movies, and I take my hat off to writer/director Adam Rifkin. Do yourself a favor and see this movie.

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dielancoral from United States
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Didn't think from synopsis I would be into this, but was hooked in the first 10 minutes. Really engaging and fascinating how the format draws you in. Good, solid entertainment. Very well executed.

The lack of traditional camera-work and the ugliness that inherently comes with this "security cam" type footage was a big issue for me before I even started watching it, but once into it I forgot it entirely. The great thing about it is that not only is it fun and enthralling, but it gets your thinking about the whole concept of voyeurism and how often we're being watched. Check this out for something different but refreshing. Definitely recommend it.

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akingofcomedy from United States
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So it's obviously a concept film, and on face value it could've been a good one.

Instead though, it is a convoluted and clearly manufactured patchwork of pointlessness. I read the first third of a novel years back that was entirely told through various forms of correspondence such as faxes, emails, police reports and newspaper clippings. Sound interesting at first, but after about seventy pages I realized it wasn't clever just based on that idea alone. That's exactly how I felt here.

No real characters, no real build to tension - and bam, it's over leaving far too much unresolved, and failing to effectively make a point. There are next to no happy moments caught on these cameras, only dreadful scenarios that, I suppose, we were expected to voyeuristic all enjoy.

And the icing on this distasteful cake is that it suffers by failing to pass the Blair Witch test. I was dumbfounded that anyone would believe BWP was actual footage. If you know the first thing about cameras (or the rules of evidence) you would immediately know it was fiction. Except with Blair Witch it was done so well you could suspend that disbelief. Not here - the footage looks so mechanically blocked and timed for each shot that it becomes a distraction.

My favorite example of this was footage from a school parking lot where something really unfortunate happens. It's a good thing they had five different camera angles pointed at that one particular parking space. I just wish they'd have turned one of those many lens toward the script.

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Danielle from Syracuse, NY
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I expected some commentary on the intrusiveness of surveillance cameras or on our voyeuristic culture, but the movie is very much NOT that. It uses the STYLE of surveillance cameras, which is a clever idea, but the film simply exploits our voyeuristic tendencies rather than commenting on them. The movie is so raunchy, the camera style just feels like an excuse to portray various people in inappropriate sexual situations while trying to call it "art." There are no characters to root for or sympathize with, and very little plot development beyond people behaving badly. Strangest of all, in the end, all the characters' (mostly) minor transgressions are punished, but the real criminal gets off scot free. It's incredibly cynical, on top of being vulgar. Despite it's original concept, based on the exploitive execution, I cannot recommend it.

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inkslug from United Kingdom
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No one could do this movie justice in a review- you just have to watch it. However, for those wanting bitesize details of what it's about they can read the next paragraph and skip the rest.

---The story follows a number of characters over two days as they go about their lives, lives which are caught on CCTV. They include a student and a teacher, two killers on the run, a store clerk and his mate, a womanising department store employee and a bullied insurance clerk. There's sex, lies, adultery, violence, abduction and death. By the end of the movie the paths of most of these often unrelated characters have crossed in the 3 main locations- a mall, a school, and a convenience store.---

After reading the other reviews I was still very much in the dark about this movie. At the time of writing this review some 45 people had given it zero while 36 gave it ten. The zero count was high enough not to be ignored whilst the ten count was low enough to be fake ratings by people involved with the movie, so I was a bit iffy about it. However it was the passion of the other reviewers that convinced me to give it a go.

After watching Look I can only assume that those giving it zero must be the type of moviegoers who lap up the shallow dross that Hollywood more often than not peddles out to the sleeping herds. So if you are one of those brain-dead masses then you probably won't think much of this movie.

BUT if you are more discerning, enjoy thought provoking material and sometimes despair at the apparent crumbling of western societal values you should find this to be as stunning, riveting and sickly voyeuristic as I did.

For me this film is a modern classic. It's a winding, weaving, surprising, intersecting story of vice, and of people sadly lacking in moral fibre. It lays bare the darkness that is within all of us. Because we view the film entirely through CCTV, it's unbiased, free of moral judgements and shows only pure truth.

Overall? A Stunning tour de force spewing forth the moral decay that is eating away at western civilisation.

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shayg from United States
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This movie is basically several stories woven together, with the technical constraint of only using footage from any security cameras that would have seen them. It's an interesting approach, but beyond that I found the actual stories lacking.

This wouldn't be so bad if the packaging didn't make it out as a movie that showed why security cameras were bad; ironically, almost all the significant things the cameras capture the characters doing involve breaking the law or other poor things that you want cameras to capture. Regardless, with so many cameras out there, there's no way even a small fraction of them can be watched by people all the time, since there are so many millions of hours produced each day.

At some point I also realized that *none* of the shots in the movie are from actual security cameras, rather they're all done with movie cameras and then digitally altered to look like security camera footage (blurry, camera ID and time text overlay). Sometimes peoples' faces are pixelated out, as if these were real security camera shots, even though this is just fiction. This for me seemed almost deceptive, trying to trick the audience into believing it was from real security cameras. I don't even think cameras are legal in dressing rooms, as in the gratuitous opening shot of the movie.

I found this movie disappointing, but still have to respect the creators for the interesting technical constraint of having all shots from security cameras. That's its only saving grace.

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djderka from United States
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I really like this movie. Taking the conceit of ubiquitous surveillance cameras and crafting a movie is a great idea and nicely executed.

Remember CRASH. Those were "real life' stories of urban life. Rifkin goes one step further to create "real life" scenarios from surveillance footage. Or seemingly surveillance footage shot on a Sony Cine Alta camera. From sexual charged females caught in a dressing room to a body locked in a car trunk, this is a tour de force of human behavior often caught in the eyes of a security camera.

I thought it was very real at first and was delighted to find it was scripted. And the actors did a great job of being "candid". The stockroom scenes are a seduction delight. The car with the body it in reminded me of the parking lot scenes in Fargo.

Now with Paranormal, we may be entering a Security Camera era of filmmaking. In fact this style of filmmaking reminds me of the mies en scene filmmaking style in the early 1900's, and shows what is happening in front of the camera is more important that what is happening with the camera.

Viewers may went to watch David Holtzman's Diary, by Jim McBride make in the 60's.

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ThreeThumbsUp from United States
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Look tries to be groundbreaking and unique, but instead it falls on its face. There is no message or thought-provoking material. The entire sequence of events (I don't even think you could call it a plot) is occupied with unsettling and disgusting garbage.

The acting varies from just OK to downright awful. I wanted the conversations to feel a little more organic and authentic because they looked like they were coming straight out of real life surveillance footage, but they didn't.

This "film" takes on some pretty powerful material, but doesn't do anything with it. It's vulgar, raunchy and exploitive. It depicts rape, sex, masturbation, nudity, murder and child abduction simply to depict rape, sex, masturbation, nudity, murder and child abduction. And worst of all, the most monstrous criminal (pedophile) of all gets away with snatching a little girl from a mall and somehow the writer thought it would be funny to make light of the situation in the final scene too. What a joke…

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Geoff McGee (mcgee@spidercirclefilms.com) from United States
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I saw this movie at the Lone Star International Film Festival in Ft. Worth & I've got to say that I really hope that this film goes really far. In my opinion, it was one of the most original but very simple films I've seen in a long time. Look is about the lives of different people. But here's the catch, it's filmed all in surveillance cameras. This film gives us a definite inside that no matter what we do, no matter where you are in the United States, you are being watched. I really don't want to give anything away but its definitely a film that's funny ,shocking, & just all out entertainment. Look will be playing in New York & in LA beginning December 14 & hopefully expanding in other areas soon after. This is a film you don't wanna miss for it will might be up for Best Original Screenplay at the 2008 Oscars.

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(boehmchadwick@optonline.net) from Jersey Shore
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"Look", more like watch, takes the movie experience to a new high in voyeurism. Using the medium of film in a new way, Director Adam Rifkin employs the idea and view of surveillance cameras to construct a very thought provoking masterpiece. As the movie opens before any flesh is exposed we are greeted by "facts" about the world of surveillance. It is explained that on any given day an average American can be captured on camera about 200 times. If that's not interesting enough what follows is even more engaging.

The real heroism in coming up with this idea for a picture is the competency for telling it. "Look" could have easily become some pet project that explored the fascinating world of eyes in the sky and manifested in to some stimulating avant-garde piece. Yet, Mr. Rifkin explores, in a very Altmanesque arrangement, the intertwining of seemingly ordinary lives, if only outwardly, and exposes them intimately. Not only is "Look" visually engaging but the story holds up as well.

"Look" is a breakthrough in cinema for creativity and style, reminiscent of other achievers, "Shortbus" by John Cameron Mitchell, "Waking Life" by Richard Liklater and Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream". It doesn't just break barriers in film-making it embraces structure, story, tone and pace to create the ultimate engaging movie experience.

According to the DVD commentary, the women one character is shown having sex with in the store room during a montage were portrayed by porn actresses.
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According to the making-of featurette on the DVD release, the man who plays the Middle Eastern bus passenger with the backpack was actually the real-life clerk at the convenience store where part of the movie was filmed. The featurette shows the man being hired on the spot by the director prior to filming the convenience store sequences.
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The full name of the convenience store clerk, as seen on the reward check, is William M. Gaines. This is the name of a famous comic book pioneer best known for creating MAD Magazine.
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Cameo: John Landis as the director whose film Marty stumbles into.
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According to the making-of featurette on the DVD, part of the first day's shooting had to be redone as the decision was made to replace the actor originally cast as Mr. Krebbs. It is also mentioned that an unidentified actress, who had been cast as Sherri, turned down the role, requiring last-minute recasting of that part, too.
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AKAs Titles:

Certifications:
Australia:MA / Japan:R-15 / USA:R