Look – DVD Review

Whether we know it or not, we are filmed every day at some point during our daily routines, the moment we step outside our homes. Whether it is running to the gas station to fill up, going to the ATM to take some cash out, shopping in the mall, or just going to school. Cameras are everywhere and in a day and age where everyone has a cell phone with a camera built into it, anyone can record anyone doing anything at any given moment. Such is the premise for Adam Rifkin’s (Detroit Rock City) very powerful and thought-provoking film, Look.

Look tells a story that is comprised of tons of different footage from surveillance cameras and woven into this colossal tale of ordinary and not so ordinary situations and circumstances. This film completely blew me away with its storyline and its compelling turn of events. This film portrays middle America through the eyes of surveillance cameras and their footage. Look felt very organic and one knows that it is a film, but is privy to each character’s daily routine in life at certain points in their days. Look follows two teenage girls, two serial killers, a married man and his gay lover, two gas station clerks at a Shell, a pedophile as he trolls the mall for victims, and an over-sexed retail clerk.

What was most shocking and hit me the hardest was watching people in their everyday lives make conscious decisions to break the law, break the rules, or do things that they normally would not dare think of doing were they aware that they were being watched. This film explores different avenues through its story and really opens the eyes of the viewer about just how much one’s life is recorded by video surveillance.

I, myself, am guilty of channel-surfing and stopping to catch 1o or 15 minutes of COPS, Tru TV, Most Shocking Videos, and any other number of programs that are compiled from surveillance footage, cell phone recordings, and the average citizen who just happens to be recording an event when something horrific occurs. It has always been human nature to want to see something bad happen, whether it be a gruesome murder, accident, or catastrophe and I believe that Look preys on that carnal emotion that every human being possesses. A statement on society is the bigger issue here. People make very bad choices when they think no one is watching. There is right and wrong, but if no one is watching or recording you, do whatever the hell you want.

A film that makes me think about my surroundings and the people around me is a good film, even a great film. Adam Rifkin has created a very entertaining tale that almost caters to the peeping tom or voyeur.

One of my favorite scenes in this film and probably the only humorous scene amidst a plethora of very serious scenes that touch upon equally serious topics was when a gas station attendant and his buddy are messing around during a shift, getting high on whip-its. The scene had me cracking up uncontrollably because the clerk was playing his huge Casio keyboard while singing some song he wrote while his buddy was dancing around the store throwing food and product all over the place. It brought back memories of when I was a clerk at a shop and had zero supervision. But in retrospect, I did have supervision. It was via the surveillance cameras that are present now in most buildings and areas of commerce. That scene, among the many other scenes, brings up the point of privacy in America. There really is no privacy in this day and age in this country due to the amount of technological advances appearing day to day. Look really takes a “look” at just how much one is really being recorded by surveillance cameras.

The film has a couple of cameos from some familiar faces, such as John Landis (director) and Ron Jeremy (porn star) and Rhys Coiro ( plays Billy Walsh in Entourage), to name just a few. Adam Rifkin also wrote the story, and it was very well written. Sprinkled with a little bit of nudity and sex, some shocking violence, and a very comfortable pace that kept me interested throughout the whole film, Look was well worth the watch!

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