For this particular review I don’t have any challenging opening lines whatsoever, something I rely largely on to put down the whole thing, because Gyllenhaal’s performance for this one was enough of that already. Putting down the facts first, this movie is, as Wikipedia creatively puts it “a neo-noir thriller” written and directed by Dan Gilroy as his directorial debut. It has received high-praise from critics and audience for its cinematography and especially for Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as an ambitious news cameraman (to put it simply), and it even received a nomination for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ at the 87th Academy Awards.
There isn’t a lot to the film in terms of plot; Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom who obtains a ‘blooming’ passion to capture the gory side of various crimes that occur during nighttime in the great city of Los Angeles and its only a while until his ambitious nature drives him to take some initiatives that are not only legally risky, but also morally and ethically questionable. Lou attempts to record some of the very graphic sides of the crimes occurred which are often paid for by Nina (Rene Russo), the head of production at a mediocre news channel, which is probably a jab at the media for their insensitivity and lack of morale while they discuss the plights of real people often, in an inconsiderate manner. According to Dean Biron of ‘Overland’, “Nightcrawler is a shattering critique of both modern day media practice and consumer culture”, as throughout the movie we see Nina make great attempts to exaggerate the news feed in a way that would not only instill a feeling of discomfort and alarm in the minds of the audience regarding their safety in the city, but would also bump up her viewer ratings.
The best thing about the film, as almost every article on the internet puts it, is how well Gyllenhaal progressed with the character of Lou; if the greasy hair, sunken cheekbones and his calculated manner of casual conversation isn’t convincing enough of his sociopathic demeanor, it’s his eyes. Those two large blue orbs (yes, that’s how I describe eyes) that take up 80% of his facial expression as they shine with malice and a disorienting thrill when he finds the perfect way to capture someone else’s pain and blood and wounds and whatnot, *shudder* are just really convincing. Lou’s actions make you scared and experience a feeling of dread as a huge stone in the pit of your stomach which you wouldn’t think you were capable of experiencing until you saw the guy.
Overall, the pace of the film crawled at times (pun intended) that would maybe urge you to pick up your phone at times, but as soon as you went over to do that, something startling enough would happen that would immediately snag your attention (I speak from experience you see) but it’s still something I would recommend heartily for everyone to watch at least once.
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