his next role was in 2007's "the lookout", in which he played chris pratt, a janitor involved in a bank heist. in reviewing the film, "the philadelphia inquirer" described gordon-levitt as a "surprisingly formidable, and formidably surprising, leading man", while "new york" magazine stated that he is a "major tabula rasa actor ... a minimalist", and that his character worked because he "doesn't seize the space ... by what he takes away from the character." the "san francisco chronicle" specified that he "embodies, more than performs, a character's inner life." his 2008 and 2009 films include "stop-loss", directed by kimberly peirce and revolving around american soldiers returning from the iraq war, and "killshot", in which he played a hoodlum partnered with a hired killer played by mickey rourke.