Nightcrawler, 2014.
Directed by Dan Gilroy.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Ann Cusack, Kevin Rahm, Anne McDaniels, Riz Ahmed and Michael Hyatt.
SYNOPSIS:
A young man stumbles upon the underground world of L.A. freelance crime journalism.
A security guard discovers a chain fence being cut by a mysterious individual who assaults him for his watch. The thief in question is Lou Bloom who sells his stolen goods but seems to be travelling around the world without a sense of purpose; however, the epiphany arrives when he witnesses freelance cameramen filming a traffic accident.
What unfolds next is the amateur photographer immersing himself in the whole news credo “If it bleeds it leads” to the point that his entrepreneurial spirit is able to flourish. Lou Bloom is also a sociopath who is prepared to do anything to get what he wants, whether it be making sexual favours part of business agreements, moving bodies for bettering composition, or eliminating anyone who stands in his way. Along with being a quick study who gathers all of his knowledge from the Internet, Bloom dishes out his words of wisdom like a fast-talking motivational speaker.
Like his brother Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Dan Gilroy has made the leap from screenwriting to directing. Thankfully, the sex scenes are only referenced which is a rare piece of restraint for a story that is creepy, disturbing, unflinching and unapologetic. Adding to the unsettling nature of the movie is that no judgements are made while the police investigation comes across as a footnote of appeasement.
One wonders if Nightcrawler is a social commentary about how the information age has desensitised people and if so, it makes quite the damning statement. Jake Gyllenhaal seems to be drawn to dark roles of late as was the case with Enemy (2013); he portrays the character of Lou Bloom with an ease that is eerie and impressive. However, with the narcissistic overtones the crime drama will fare better on the art house circuit than with mainstream moviegoers.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Originally published September 6, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
