The Lookalike (2014) User Reviews (15)

a different kind of job qualification

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 2 November 2014]

Greetings again from the darkness. Familiar faces are everywhere in this crime thriller from husband and wife filmmakers Richard Gray (director) and Michele Davis-Gray (writer). The familiar faces make the most of a story with no shortage of characters or sub-plots, though sometimes the movie tries a bit too hard to be gritty and hard-edged.

Jerry O'Connell plays Joe Mulligan, a former basketball star turned club owner and drug dealer. Joe is dealing drugs to pay off his dead dad's debt to loan shark Luis Guzman, all while keeping his dream of hosting his own cooking show on the Food Network. See, Joe is mostly a nice guy caught up in an ugly world. This world includes his brother Holt (Justin Long) who may not be the straight-laced guy he first appears as, his drug boss Bobby (John Corbett), Bobby's henchman Frank (Steven Bauer), and William Spinks (John Savage) as the powerful guy who demands a set-up in exchange for a big pay day.

The set-up is on track until one of the freakiest fatal accidents strikes Sadie Hill, the object of Spinks' attraction. Desperate for the money, the bumbling drug dummies, decide to find a substitute. Enter Joe's customer and Holt's squeeze as the titular lookalike. Gillian Jacobs (TV's "Community") as Lacey does a nice job making us believe she is just desperate enough to agree to the job. Yes, desperation is a trait shared by most every character in the movie … even the detective played by the always reliable Gena Gershon. The final character of note is Mila (Scottie Thompson), who plays the "girl walks into a bar" role and proceeds to muddy the water in this big plan. Both Ms. Jacobs and Ms. Thompson flash the ability necessary for more ambitious projects.

Slow-motion and cheesy music negatively impact some of the dramatic moments and the sex scenes … especially an otherwise effective cross-cut between O'Connell and Long as they seduce Thompson and Jacobs, respectively. Still, for a rainy day mindless crime thriller that won't require much investment, this one is satisfactory and offers a chance to catch up with some of our most familiar character actors.

starsIT'S FOR A ROLE

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 8 September 2018]

William Spinks (John Savage) is a successful business man who is willing to pay big money to have sex with his former business partner's daughter who he knew many years ago. He doesn't know exactly what she looks like today, but managed to confirm her identity with a phone call. Due to a light accident our gal Sadie expires. The men who made the arrangement need a lookalike (Gillian Jacobs) because they don't want to pass up the large sums of money involved. The quest then touches on our subplot of two brothers who deal and use drugs and the women in their lives. This also involves some improbable coincidences so that the story could have some interest.

The characters really didn't grab me. You find yourself rooting for the bad guys trying to do a little good. The film includes a deaf girl with a fake leg (Scottie Thompson), because...I am not sure why they wrote the part that way.

Would make for a low expectation rental. Not a keeper.

Guide: F-bomb, sex, stripper nudity (Emily Jessie Thomas +other)

Pretty much a hot mess.

[Talos · 5/10 · 4 May 2018]

Despite lots of good actors, this film (story line) is all over the place. Meg.

Sux

[pattycake-70382 · 3/10 · 15 April 2019]

Huge waste of time. I was expecting something more enticing and unexpected given the cast. But the story just kept falling flatter. Lot's of plot holes and disconnects.

Watchable but feels a bit poser-ish.

[Seth_Rogue_One · 6/10 · 3 April 2016]

By poser-ish I mean that it's trying to be a gritty crime ensemble flick but it's just a little 'off' in most regards.

The acting is a little 'off' at times as is the direction, editing and the cinematography isn't the best, they are trying to make it look fancy but instead manages to do the exact opposite.

The overall plot is pretty cool but the dialogue could definitely have done with some enhancements with a lot of cheesy lines that feels like they were taken out of a soap-opera at times.

So yeah it's not a film that grabbed me by the edge of my seat and occasionally my mind wondered astray but for the more-part it managed to keep my interest.

So yeah watchable but flawed, 5.5/10 from me.

Something was missing in Lookalike!

[mel-614-138546 · 16 April 2015]

First, Scottie Thompson was a freakin' dead-ringer for a younger Annette Benning in this movie. Face, mannerisms, eyes. The resemblance was almost spooky! I watched this movie on Netflix and couldn't wait to get to the credits at the end -- fully expecting the last name of this actress to be "Beatty" (as in Warren Beatty). Or, maybe Benning and the next door neighbor hooked up one afternoon. Who knows?

Second, Justin Long was miscast for this movie to the point of being irritating. I just wanted to slap the s**t out of this guy for acting so goofy in what was supposed to be a gritty drama. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he really should stick to doing comedies. On second thought, he did a much better job shilling Macs on Apple TV commercials. But that's just my opinion.

John Corbett almost managed to pull off the required "bad guy" vibe for his character, Bobby. Unfortunately he never quite hit it out of the park. I kept hearing his voice-over on the Applebee's restaurant TV commercials and could never get it out of my head. (Is it possible for an actor to have his VOICE typecast?) P.S. Loved him on Showtime's "United States of Tara". His best part to date.

O'Connell? Eh! I couldn't get into his character. Mila must have been BLIND and deaf to fall for his character as Joe Mulligan. "Way too much sugar for a dime" going on between him and the character Mila.

Gina Gershon did very well, but I always thought for years that she was smokin' hot anyway -- so my opinion about her is highly biased. If Hollywood would just let her get back in the game -- even at her age -- she would make this boy's dream come true!

John Savage. What can I say? The poor guy is looking very, very long in the tooth and hasn't aged well at all. His superb acting during the glory days of "The Deer Hunter" and "The Thin Red Line" are well behind him now. It may be time to retire to Florida.

Finally, "Lookalike" was a fairly good attempt at a serious drama, but in the end could only muster a direct-to-video effort.

P.S. It's also great to see New Orleans getting so much movie business (post-Katrina). In one scene Bobby reveals to Joe (and to the viewer) what attracts Hollywood production companies to shoot in and around the city.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WARNING - WARNING - WARNING: SPOILER FOLLOWS! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Holt and Lacey are fishing from a bank on the Mississippi River there is a tug boat visible screen right. When Vincent (Luiz Guzman) shows up walking his dog the tug disappears. In the next scene the tug reappears again. While they are not visible on screen, I suspect cameras were mounted on the tug to shoot some of the river bank scenes.

In the same sequence on the river bank, the very top of Vincent's head appears in the lower edge of the frame for a brief second as he is walking away from Holt and Lacey. That's something the film editor should have spotted and cut out to keep the shot from looking like an amateur home movie.

I blame the music

[voyou-703-655350 · 5/10 · 10 November 2014]

Your liking of The Lookalike might very well depend on how much coincidences you are ready to accept in a storyline. This one heavily relies on them, some quite extraordinary, but if you are tolerant - or in the mood to be - they are acceptable, especially since they come early on in the introduction of the characters and their respective schemes.

The story is fine, the cast is fine, the picture is often very colourful, in contrast to what must be inside the minds of the protagonists, and there are plenty of beautiful shots, notably of New Orleans and the bayou. What is certainly not so good is the score.

The music is absent from most scenes, but is there for the romance and for the violence. That's unfortunate, specially for the latter. Indeed, these particular scenes lack tension and fail to involve the viewer. Be they a kidnapping or a shoot out, they pass with a level of detachment that doesn't quite fit the genre. I appreciate that they avoid the gruesome of many other films, not so much that they also avoid the thrills. Blaming the music may very well let me overlook other factors, but I'll unfairly leave it at that.

Decent Lookalike (Thriller)

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 18 July 2015]

Some might argue a perfect lookalike, which wouldn't be wrong at all. The movie itself has quite a few characters it has to bring together or at least introduce and let them play out what they are trying to do. Obviously everyone involved has their own agenda and not everything is as it seems.

Acting-wise you get what you'd expect, with so many known faces. Some might be surprised by the women involved, but only in a very positive way. They all have tough roles to play out, but they deliver. While the story might not have that wow effect going for it, it still is as the movie itself pretty good.

Waste of time

[mayank-813-378681 · 1/10 · 26 February 2020]

Movie had no story at all. Script was too weak, characters were not making any sense and op top of that the acting was also not good. Time totally wasted.

Quirky B-Movie with a Good Story and a Bevy of Hotties

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 3 June 2015]

A Somewhat Gritty and Sometimes Amusing Off-Beat Little Crime Story About Drug Dealers and Assorted Hotties. Many Familiar Faces Can Be Seen in This Underrated Movie with Many a Quirk and a Complicated Plot of Misdirection and Coincidental, but Important Situations.

It's Got Enough Violence and Underworld Middle-Level Drug Stuff to be Sleazy, It's Set in New Orleans, to be Worth a Watch. Nothing Here is New in the Genre but it Tries Hard to Include Characters with Expected and Not So Expected Human Flaws.

Justin Long was Outstanding in Tusk (2014 Directed by Kevin Smith) and is Fine as the Nucleus of the Story and the Women Here are All Smokin Hot and that Adds to the Attraction.

The Film's Aloof Manner Keeps This From the Neo-Noir Genre Although it Contains Some Elements. Nothing Memorable, but is a Good B-Movie and the Cast and Some Style Make This a Good Pick When Slumming.

too boring first 45minutes

[saskpareki · 5/10 · 3 April 2021]

In the second half it gets interesting but still i wouldnt recommend it.

Nothing special in this movie and the actors didnt give anything unique, just an average movie.

Highly enjoyable, well made, and unexpectedly dark

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 9 November 2023]

It was a bold move to build a cast primarily of stars who tend to be known for their work in comedy, or at least notably lighter fare; Jerry O'Connell, Justin Long, John Corbett, and Luis Guzmán are certainly not generally known for dramas or thrillers, and even with extra dour films like 'Blackbird' and 'Gardens of the night' to her name, Gillian Jacobs is obviously best known for comedies. Though there are notes of wry humor here, let there be no doubt that 'The lookalike' is no comedy - and in fact it's significantly darker than I ever would have guessed before I sat to watch. Violence, desperation, and gloom are the order of the day in a tale of drugs, manipulation, backstabbing, major debt, love, sex, plain old murder, and worse, and multiple characters' lives and story threads intersecting. It's hard to track all those threads at the outset, but they do meaningfully (and grimly) converge, and at that more than can be said for some other titles that have taken a similar storytelling approach. While not as wholly disturbing or depressing as some other flicks, this still isn't the easiest flick to watch at times - but for all of its 100 minutes, it's excellent all the way through.

Removed from the sort of material for which they're most recognized, everyone here gives fantastic performances of cold, hardened intensity, nevertheless vitalized with superb nuance. As if they haven't proven themselves elsewhere, and their versatility in a wide range of roles, I'm low-key stunned by just how terrific the actors are, all shining from one to the next. That goes for O'Connell, Long, and Jacobs most of all, not just for their prominence but for the disparity with their other works, but also those in supporting parts, like Scottie Thompson and Felisha Terrell. The ensemble is an important anchoring point for as harsh as the narrative becomes, but it's also a great credit to both screenwriter Michele Gray and director Richard Gray that between the two of them the feature remains light on its feet, never getting bogged down in the violence, the plot development, the strong emotions, or any other facet. The screenplay is totally solid, with a perfectly cohesive and compelling narrative, rich and flavorful scene writing, and characters that are written gratifyingly well. Richard ties all the many pieces together with the same deft hand that brings out the buzzing electricity of the proceedings, letting everything and everyone have their moment to shine without wholly stealing the spotlight. Really, 'The lookalike' is splendidly well balanced.

Even Alies Sluiter's score carries that same energy as Richard's direction. At any given time the themes stick to the background, merely lending to the mood, but ever does the music retain a lively sense of movement that bolsters the sprightly feel of the picture at large. And in all other regards this is as well made as one might hope of modern cinema, with every aspect having a turn to rise to the fore as the tale progresses. The costume design, hair, and makeup are lovely; stunts and effects are nice and sharp. Thomas Scott Stanton's cinematography is crisp and vivid, not to mention smart, and the sound design and editing are equally keen. Everything looks and sounds good here as far as I'm concerned - but it's definitely the story, the cast, and the direction that matter most, and on these bases the viewing experience is pretty fabulous. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a must-see, yet it's a movie that's crafted with tremendous skill, intelligence, and care, and the story keeps us firmly invested; that's more than enough to earn a hearty recommendation as far as I'm concerned. Suggested above all for those who are fans of the cast, 'The lookalike' is a crime thriller that's more than it seems from the outside, and if you have the chance to watch then it's well worth checking out.

Good watch

[albertmarinjr · 6/10 · 9 July 2020]

Definitely something to add to your list for when you run out of things to watch. Very suspenseful.

Beyond Ridiculous

[mcjensen-05924 · 1/10 · 4 July 2023]

Fails at every level. Not only are all the characters unbelievable in their role, they are terrible at trying to pull it off. The plot is so farfetched and the dialogue so absurd all you can really do is roll your eyes. It's sooooo bad!! Most of the movie is padding. Everyone is miscast. The film plods along from one mindless scene to another. Just a poorly thought out film and executed so horribly one can't help wonder if it's all ad libbed. Events just don't occur like portrayed in this movie. People don't act how they act in this movie. All you can do is laugh at the sheer stupidity of this. There's no humor. There's no grit. The sex scenes are a dud. The only consistencies here are the fact that absolutely nothing makes sense. Nobody makes sense. It's maddening that the creators expected the general public to devous this slop, although the general public isn't exactly know for their discriminating taste. It's an offering to the lowest common denominator. Pure garbage from start to finisn.

Great cast

[yada2121 · 5/10 · 30 August 2020]

The multiple plot twists don't really come together until the last ten minutes of the movie. I would have spent more time developing the Sadie Hill plot twist at Versailles. They did a decent job introducing that at the beginning of the story. But the dramatic scene near the end left more questions than answers. Basically, this is a drug drama with several disjointed murder plots stashed in the middle. And an ending that was not fully developed enough to explain the mysterious past relationship which seems to be the premise that exploits the finale plot twist. The effort of one of the minor characters seemed wasted to me.