Jake Gyllenhaal is the nightcrawler. A nightcrawler is a worm. Bloom, the character played here, is a sociopath. His ambitions and fixations far outweigh common morality. Let's face it, his cohorts in the business aren't much better than he is, but they have a kind of code, and they don't participate in enhancing the crime. When Bloom moves an accident victim for the first time in order to get a better shot, he crosses the line and stays on the other side. He is willing to do anything to get his way and he is a master at monotonous monologue when he is confronted. It's as if he is reading from a book. I heard an interview recently with Gyllenhaal and he recited some of this stuff from memory with almost no emotion. This is a terrific performance by one of our really good actors. The way he is able to slide into every situation unscathed and maintain that sardonic grin is really nonpareil. This is about the voyeurism of the audience which demands this hateful kind of portrayal.
1,012 Reviews
Yeah
ashleyrose31330 October 2020
Gyllenhaal at his Best
Chrismeister2 November 2014
Nightcrawler from the very beginning is not a traditional Hollywood film. It certainly does not follow the narrative of one and even though it has the three-act structure we are all familiar with, it spins them around. This is particularly evident in the third act, incredibly suspenseful with a brilliant, almost anti-climax. Suspense is the main key to this film's success, it build and builds to the point where the last twenty minutes of the film are completely unpredictable. Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut here has shown a real understanding of how to keep an audience engaged and following a character who isn't an easy man to spend a great deal of time with. Gilroy's screenplay is fast paced and one of the finest this year. The script focuses the audience on the characters, Louis Bloom particularly yet the supporting characters are just as impressive by Bill Paxton and Rene Russo alike. It doesn't follow the rules of a typical script, we are introduced instantly to a criminal and this man is supposed to be our protagonist. Yet what becomes clear is that there is not a protagonist in Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal's Louis Bloom is the antagonist. He can be described as nothing less than a psychopath and his portrayal by Gyllenhaal is one of his greatest performances. He is very gaunt here, losing a lot of weight for the role, however that is not the main reason for his impressive performance. Gyllenhaal is an actor who continues to impress me; his work in Enemy from earlier this year was just as brilliant. He has chosen excellent roles in films such as Zodiac, Prisoners and End of Watch. The cinematography is also fantastic, night-time LA has not looked this good since 2011's Drive. All these elements come together to make a captivating piece of filmmaking, a film I expect will be discussed more as time goes on.
Character study of a manipulative sociopath.
lnvicta7 May 2015
Once Jake Gyllenhaal signed on to do Nightcrawler I knew it would be a special film. The man has been producing nothing but gold lately and this is no different. Nightcrawler is an experience - it takes you on this journey through the grimy streets of LA, through the corrupt minds of media moguls, and everything is told through the eyes of seemingly charming slimeball reporter Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Nightcrawler works on so many levels. The writing and direction is fantastic, which is especially impressive as it's the directorial debut by Dan Gilroy who takes on both duties. He had a clear vision of how he wanted to portray LA and the sleek, brooding yet slightly lackadaisical tone transfers perfectly onto the big screen. The acting is phenomenal - Gyllenhaal gives a performance that's the polar opposite from his character in Prisoners and he was on point for every second. He was the perfect casting choice to carry the movie.
The movie has a clear message on the media and how they abuse stories and reap the benefits regardless of who gets victimized. It's a message that has been told a million times before, but never quite like this. Nightcrawler throws you right into the gritty streets along with a hustling thief, Lou, who starts freelancing as a videographer of crime scenes and selling his footage to a news channel for money. We go along this journey with Lou and watch his transformation from being a sleazy but ambitious individual to becoming a manipulative, self-serving sociopath. Then you start to realize that he was like that all along. His charming charisma masked his true intentions, and this peek into his psyche is the most potent and disturbing aspect of the movie. It's a character study that encompasses an entire lifestyle, and told with enough elegance and wit to keep you on board the whole way.
There's a dark comedic tone present throughout. Lou's persistence and crass remarks to basically anyone he encounters provide some good laughs. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, he'll talk to anyone in order to get his way, and he has a sleazy smirk that never fails to get a reaction. Also Gyllenhaal's chemistry with Rene Russo (the news director) is palatable and their work dynamic becomes more of a gripping co-dependency as the movie progresses.
Nightcrawler is a must-watch for fans of cinema. It's a work of art from a directorial and writing standpoint, from an acting standpoint, and from a basic human nature standpoint. It really does a hell of a job at sucking you into this dark gloomy world to the point where you don't want to get out. It's intense, it's funny, it's thrilling, it's powerful, and most of all, it's real. Nightcrawler is simply sensational.
Nightcrawler works on so many levels. The writing and direction is fantastic, which is especially impressive as it's the directorial debut by Dan Gilroy who takes on both duties. He had a clear vision of how he wanted to portray LA and the sleek, brooding yet slightly lackadaisical tone transfers perfectly onto the big screen. The acting is phenomenal - Gyllenhaal gives a performance that's the polar opposite from his character in Prisoners and he was on point for every second. He was the perfect casting choice to carry the movie.
The movie has a clear message on the media and how they abuse stories and reap the benefits regardless of who gets victimized. It's a message that has been told a million times before, but never quite like this. Nightcrawler throws you right into the gritty streets along with a hustling thief, Lou, who starts freelancing as a videographer of crime scenes and selling his footage to a news channel for money. We go along this journey with Lou and watch his transformation from being a sleazy but ambitious individual to becoming a manipulative, self-serving sociopath. Then you start to realize that he was like that all along. His charming charisma masked his true intentions, and this peek into his psyche is the most potent and disturbing aspect of the movie. It's a character study that encompasses an entire lifestyle, and told with enough elegance and wit to keep you on board the whole way.
There's a dark comedic tone present throughout. Lou's persistence and crass remarks to basically anyone he encounters provide some good laughs. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, he'll talk to anyone in order to get his way, and he has a sleazy smirk that never fails to get a reaction. Also Gyllenhaal's chemistry with Rene Russo (the news director) is palatable and their work dynamic becomes more of a gripping co-dependency as the movie progresses.
Nightcrawler is a must-watch for fans of cinema. It's a work of art from a directorial and writing standpoint, from an acting standpoint, and from a basic human nature standpoint. It really does a hell of a job at sucking you into this dark gloomy world to the point where you don't want to get out. It's intense, it's funny, it's thrilling, it's powerful, and most of all, it's real. Nightcrawler is simply sensational.
He has no conscience...so he's a natural!
planktonrules16 March 2017
"Nightcrawler" is an incredibly graphic and adult film...so think twice before you watch it. The language, the violence and content is NOT something everybody will want to see...to think twice (I am saying it again just to emphasize this strongly).
When the film begins, Louis (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a cheap little crook stealing and doing what he can to get by. In the process of doing this, he happens upon a film crew covering a crime scene...and Louis has found his purpose. He soon gets himself a cheap camcorder and police scanner and soon begins spending his evenings driving about LA--looking for mayhem in order to make a buck off it. As the film progresses, Louis' complete lack of ethics and conscience is shocking...especially when he begins manipulating things to make news stories and withholding police evidence in order to get the BIG story!
This film is incredibly cynical in the way it shows the news. It shows the newsfolk as mostly a lot of soulless bottom-feeders--and Louis is the king of them all. And, as his videos become more and more horrific, Louis seems to be enjoying it with an almost orgiastic pleasure. I really appreciated in the film is Jake Gyllenhaal's performance. His wide-eyed almost insane look really helped his character...as did his weird, gaunt look. And, it helped that the more awful the things were that he was covering, the happier he appeared. Some excellent acting by him. Overall, a cynical, intense and difficult film that is not for everyone...and it's a logical 21st century extension of the sort of exploitative news that thrilled audiences with "Network".
When the film begins, Louis (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a cheap little crook stealing and doing what he can to get by. In the process of doing this, he happens upon a film crew covering a crime scene...and Louis has found his purpose. He soon gets himself a cheap camcorder and police scanner and soon begins spending his evenings driving about LA--looking for mayhem in order to make a buck off it. As the film progresses, Louis' complete lack of ethics and conscience is shocking...especially when he begins manipulating things to make news stories and withholding police evidence in order to get the BIG story!
This film is incredibly cynical in the way it shows the news. It shows the newsfolk as mostly a lot of soulless bottom-feeders--and Louis is the king of them all. And, as his videos become more and more horrific, Louis seems to be enjoying it with an almost orgiastic pleasure. I really appreciated in the film is Jake Gyllenhaal's performance. His wide-eyed almost insane look really helped his character...as did his weird, gaunt look. And, it helped that the more awful the things were that he was covering, the happier he appeared. Some excellent acting by him. Overall, a cynical, intense and difficult film that is not for everyone...and it's a logical 21st century extension of the sort of exploitative news that thrilled audiences with "Network".
A razor sharp satire with Gyllenhaal in top form
trublu21524 October 2014
If you take the slick look of Drive and the satirical wit of Network, you get Nightcrawler. This film is a genius first film for director Dan Gilroy, it is darkly comedic, surprisingly disturbing and is brilliantly acted. The film tells the story of Lou Bloom, a freelance videographer who covers the crime world in LA for a local news station and ruthless editor played by Rene Russo. It isn't before long until Bloom's demented job overtakes his life, making him colder and colder the deeper he goes. The film plays like a twisted bloody version of Network and has the satirical wit to back it up. Jake Gyllenhaal is utterly fantastic in this film. Lou Bloom is a role that he is completely submerged in and it oozes through every frame as our dislike for Bloom intensifies throughout the film. But what this film does best is not make us particularly like Bloom but it makes us wonder what he is willing to do next. And trust me, his actions get as sick and as shocking as they come. Bloom is a depraved individual and Jake Gyllenhaal deserves a hell of a lot acknowledgment for this role because he pulls off the tricky task of making the audience care about a character that is truly unlikeable and does so with not one false note. It is truly mesmerizing to see. The supporting cast including Rene Russo and Bill Paxton are absolutely great in this film and deliver career bests here. The cinematography also is top notch here, blending the awesome pallets of Drive with a bitter cold makes for an engaging view and makes it hard for you to peel your eyes from the screen. Writer/Director Dan Gilroy is someone to watch, especially coming out of the gates with a film filled with sheer and raw velocity like this one. It is not only an impressive first film but a brilliant film all around. I highly recommend it.
Stylishly Scary Tour de Force
matthewssilverhammer9 November 2014
From Welles to De Niro to Hanks to Bale, Hollywood has a history of actors going through extreme body transformations. While Gyllenhaal's intense weight loss will easily fit this trend, to only focus on that part of his commitment to Nightcrawler would be overlooking how impressively gone he is as Louis Bloom, the focus of this intense character study about an overlooked and disturbed individual. It's not a particularly "pleasant" film, and the pacing is far from quick, but the tension between Louis and his world progresses so beautifully as to pin you right to your seat. Nightcrawler is an effectively scary, uncomfortably funny, and stylishly gritty tour de force. The premise, plot and protagonist are truly unique: a sociopath becomes a freelance news-cameraman, stopping at nothing to succeed. Though his arc seems implausible, Gilroy crafts it smoothly, and Gyllenhaal's disturbed perfection make it hard NOT to believe. His unsettling bug-eyed expression and breathtakingly inappropriate smile are magnetic. Much like Scorsese's Rupert Pupkin, Bloom seems to believe he is the star of his own story: delusional, bull-headed, and respectably determined. Luckily, there is more here than just Gyllenhaal; powerful set-pieces resound, and the beautifully cool ambient guitar score is among the best of the year, complimenting Gyllenahaal's uneasy intensity. Even the camera consistently reminds us where Bloom stands in the deeply LA locale. At the heart, it's smartly calling out our propensity for praising characters for their desires, reminding us that compassionless ambition is extremely dangerous. For our fame-starved culture, Nightcrawler is a good message within a great movie with an even greater lead performance. A true don't-miss!
A No Spoiler Review - A Fantastic Unique Thriller
knoxiii23 November 2014
Nightcrawler is slang. I will not ruin or spoil anything in this review. Jake Gylenhall has never been better. His character must have been incredibly hard to play, and you will see why. There is a reason this Thriller & Drama opened on Halloween. His character is ambitious to a fault & highly intelligent. He interacts most often with Rene Russo & a man he calls his intern. If you thought Julius Caesar was ambitious or Alexander the Great, this character must have the same motivation to succeed minus the goal of conquering the world. Needless to say he is driven. Russo is also ambitious, so they make a good team. The difference is how far each is willing to cross the lines of morality, legality & humanity.
The movie is original in every sense. There has never been a movie similar in the character or the situation, and the movie makes an open commentary about an important but not political aspect of American society. To say it was gripping would be literal. I looked down at one point, and I was clutching my outer thigh. The movie is tense & intense. Every move seems known to Gylenhall but not to anyone else. If you like entrepreneurs, this movie will appeal to that in one aspect. Overall, it is definitely a Thriller full of danger & illegality. It is Gylenhall versus the world, if he were a diplomat & the world represented achieving his goals. That's his character around others. When left unwatched, even for a moment, he devolves into a character that does whatever it takes.
See this movie for the originality. See it if you enjoy thrillers. See it because he gives the best acting performance of his life in a character with many sides. See it for fun. See it for a cool fast car. Or, the fact it is tracking above 8 stars out of 10 which is about as good as it gets on IMDb, considering that is the average of thousands & thousands of ratings by people as diverse as patrons watching on a Washington, D.C theater. From that number you can safely predict it's very likely you will find it as highly entertaining as the international average (plus or minus 1 star). In my estimation, I reserve a 9/10 rating for the best of the best. 10/10 stars are for the greatest movies. This is easily the best of the best.
One friendly tip: If you are on heart, or anxiety medication, take it as scheduled or if it's as needed, make sure it's within reach.
Knox D. Alford, III
The movie is original in every sense. There has never been a movie similar in the character or the situation, and the movie makes an open commentary about an important but not political aspect of American society. To say it was gripping would be literal. I looked down at one point, and I was clutching my outer thigh. The movie is tense & intense. Every move seems known to Gylenhall but not to anyone else. If you like entrepreneurs, this movie will appeal to that in one aspect. Overall, it is definitely a Thriller full of danger & illegality. It is Gylenhall versus the world, if he were a diplomat & the world represented achieving his goals. That's his character around others. When left unwatched, even for a moment, he devolves into a character that does whatever it takes.
See this movie for the originality. See it if you enjoy thrillers. See it because he gives the best acting performance of his life in a character with many sides. See it for fun. See it for a cool fast car. Or, the fact it is tracking above 8 stars out of 10 which is about as good as it gets on IMDb, considering that is the average of thousands & thousands of ratings by people as diverse as patrons watching on a Washington, D.C theater. From that number you can safely predict it's very likely you will find it as highly entertaining as the international average (plus or minus 1 star). In my estimation, I reserve a 9/10 rating for the best of the best. 10/10 stars are for the greatest movies. This is easily the best of the best.
One friendly tip: If you are on heart, or anxiety medication, take it as scheduled or if it's as needed, make sure it's within reach.
Knox D. Alford, III
Gyllenhaal impresses as the least likable character you've seen in a long time.
markgorman31 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
You leave the movie theatre with a slightly sick feeling of guilt after watching Nightcrawler. Guilt that you actually enjoyed this rather original movie-making set in an ethical and moral vacuum. In that sense the movie is entirely ironic. You shouldn't be enjoying this stuff.
It's an exposition of entirely greed-induced (financial and ego driven) naked ambition that rivals Wolf of Wall Street for it's blithe abandon of normal ethical practice.
Gyllenhaal, as Louis Bloom, almost cadaverous after his dramatic weight loss for the part, is as unsympathetic a movie character as you've seen in a very long time. His back story, which is precisely zilch, renders him a character in search of a meaning. A loner, a drifter, a thief, unemployed (unemployable is the truth) and entirely without remorse - emotion for that matter - stumbles upon a freelance career as an, at first hapless then really rather good, ambulance chasing 'scene of the crime' news cameraman.
Starting with motorway crashes and graduating to suburban crime scenes (where the threat of middle America being intruded upon by 'Hispanics' and other Liberal American ethnic minorities) he captures more and more challenging newsreel material that feeds the sensation-lust of an LA loser News Station's News Editor, Nina Romina, played deliciously by Rene Russo.
Romina's sponsorship of, and belief in, the expert blagging of Bloom feeds his desire for greater success and indeed for Romina herself. In a toe curling 'date' at a camp Mexican restaurant Bloom lays it on the line with Romina in a scene of toe-curling embarrassment. It's as if Gyllenhaal is playing for laughs, but he's deadly serious.
Throughout, Gyllenhaal commands the screen. The Nightime lighting constantly picking out his skeletal, eye bulging look that makes him look like the devil incarnate. This truly is an evil character and Gyllenhaal's trademark smirk only adds to the perverse sense of evil pleasure he is gaining as his success mushrooms.
A recurring theme in the movie is his watering of a pot plant in his flat. It's as if it's the only living thing he cares two bucks about. Certainly his hapless sidekick/assistant Rick, played by Riz Ahmed, has next to no chance in this little hothouse world of emotion-free ambition.
Gyllenhaal's faux management style 'development' of Rick is at times darkly amusing but usually just plain vacuous and ironic given that he draws from real world self help and management lingo that's bad enough in the corporate world, but downright bizarre in this micro universe.
The car chases are gripping edge of seat affairs, the plot, although it has holes in the final reel (quite big ones I felt) is nevertheless highly original and unfolds at a steady pace.
The conclusion was, to my mind at least, a little disappointing, but aside from this a good, dark, star vehicle for Jake and possibly a step towards another best actor nomination.
It's an exposition of entirely greed-induced (financial and ego driven) naked ambition that rivals Wolf of Wall Street for it's blithe abandon of normal ethical practice.
Gyllenhaal, as Louis Bloom, almost cadaverous after his dramatic weight loss for the part, is as unsympathetic a movie character as you've seen in a very long time. His back story, which is precisely zilch, renders him a character in search of a meaning. A loner, a drifter, a thief, unemployed (unemployable is the truth) and entirely without remorse - emotion for that matter - stumbles upon a freelance career as an, at first hapless then really rather good, ambulance chasing 'scene of the crime' news cameraman.
Starting with motorway crashes and graduating to suburban crime scenes (where the threat of middle America being intruded upon by 'Hispanics' and other Liberal American ethnic minorities) he captures more and more challenging newsreel material that feeds the sensation-lust of an LA loser News Station's News Editor, Nina Romina, played deliciously by Rene Russo.
Romina's sponsorship of, and belief in, the expert blagging of Bloom feeds his desire for greater success and indeed for Romina herself. In a toe curling 'date' at a camp Mexican restaurant Bloom lays it on the line with Romina in a scene of toe-curling embarrassment. It's as if Gyllenhaal is playing for laughs, but he's deadly serious.
Throughout, Gyllenhaal commands the screen. The Nightime lighting constantly picking out his skeletal, eye bulging look that makes him look like the devil incarnate. This truly is an evil character and Gyllenhaal's trademark smirk only adds to the perverse sense of evil pleasure he is gaining as his success mushrooms.
A recurring theme in the movie is his watering of a pot plant in his flat. It's as if it's the only living thing he cares two bucks about. Certainly his hapless sidekick/assistant Rick, played by Riz Ahmed, has next to no chance in this little hothouse world of emotion-free ambition.
Gyllenhaal's faux management style 'development' of Rick is at times darkly amusing but usually just plain vacuous and ironic given that he draws from real world self help and management lingo that's bad enough in the corporate world, but downright bizarre in this micro universe.
The car chases are gripping edge of seat affairs, the plot, although it has holes in the final reel (quite big ones I felt) is nevertheless highly original and unfolds at a steady pace.
The conclusion was, to my mind at least, a little disappointing, but aside from this a good, dark, star vehicle for Jake and possibly a step towards another best actor nomination.
Jake G's Blinks in Prisoners are Only Rivaled by the Weaslely Grin In Nightcrawler
LTSmash149 September 2014
This movie was both fun and terrifying. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as Lou Bloom will certainly frighten you. He is brilliant when paired with the amazing monologue style rants written for him.
Lou Bloom is a driven man reminiscent of a sociopath who finds he has a talent as "nightcrawling" in that he takes videos of true crimes as they are happening to be broadcast on the news. His motivation and seeming lack of empathy allow him to break through and take the controversial images, and sell them with a strong aptitude for negotiation.
As a character, he grows more and more "motivated" and seems to learn his business in such a way to bring him amazing success, but to the determinant, perhaps, of his assistant and the victims of these crimes.
The writer/ director of this movie (making his directorial debut) certainly understands fear and comedy. The simplest scene was made into a laugh by the angles and cuts.
It's funny, and enjoyable, but still terrifying enough to feel like a real horror thriller.
Lou Bloom is a driven man reminiscent of a sociopath who finds he has a talent as "nightcrawling" in that he takes videos of true crimes as they are happening to be broadcast on the news. His motivation and seeming lack of empathy allow him to break through and take the controversial images, and sell them with a strong aptitude for negotiation.
As a character, he grows more and more "motivated" and seems to learn his business in such a way to bring him amazing success, but to the determinant, perhaps, of his assistant and the victims of these crimes.
The writer/ director of this movie (making his directorial debut) certainly understands fear and comedy. The simplest scene was made into a laugh by the angles and cuts.
It's funny, and enjoyable, but still terrifying enough to feel like a real horror thriller.
Slick, but wafer-thin, obvious; a disappointment.
TOMASBBloodhound19 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Haven't we already had some movies that touched on this kind of would-be journalism? Wasn't there a movie called Paparazzo back in about 2004, or something like that? Didn't Joe Pesci once make something called 'Jimmy Hollywood' back in the early 90s that had a similar theme? True, those movies are not specifically about gruesome crime journalism, but the idea of edgy loners going out and merely showing up with a camera didn't sound too original. I was hoping for more than I got.
That said, Nightcrawler is not going to bore you. It may only make you wish they had done it better. The story deals with an asocial loner (Gyllenhaal) attempting to break into television journalism with nothing more than a camera and a police scanner. Clueless at first, the young man discovers he has good instincts. Then, he finds a ratings-challenged news station that is willing to pay him good money for gory footage of crime and accidents; things the mean streets of L.A. would seem to have a lot of. Within mere moments of screen time, Gyllenhaal has graduated to having a fast sports car, top shelf equipment, and even an assistant. His footage is a potential career saver for TV journalist Rene Russo. But there is competition for this bloody footage (surprisingly little, though) and soon Jake finds himself not only recording the blood, but sometimes thinking he has to cause it as well. He finds himself compelled to sabotage his primary competitor, demand sexual favors from Russo, withhold the identities of multi-murderers, and even sacrifice his partner's life. When will his world come crashing down on him? Or will it?
That little synopsis is more compelling than many of the scenes. The script plays like a first draft, with no major plot twists that you cannot see coming from a mile away. Some possibilities are offered, then left to dry up on the vine. The manner in which Jake films the mass shooting at a swanky home, leads the viewer to expect that he will in fact be a suspect in the crime. It would not surprise me to learn there is a different draft in which they did actually go that route, and some of the shots were set up to move the story in that direction. Alas, Jake is merely accused only of withholding the identities of the killers. A detective threatens him harshly at his apartment about the possibility he could be charged with obstruction and whatnot. NOTHING comes of this scene. Nothing. Gyllenhaal's performance is uneven. In the first half of the film, he seems to be aping Travis Bickle with his asocial honesty and lack of people skills. By the second act, he is a cold know-it-all who talks down to his assistant and the people at the TV station. By the film's final act, he is a slick, slimy pseudo TV producer. It just doesn't seem like he'd morph so quickly. And if this business is so competitive, why is Bill Paxton the only other guy who seems to show up and compete for footage? This coulda, and shoulda been better. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
That said, Nightcrawler is not going to bore you. It may only make you wish they had done it better. The story deals with an asocial loner (Gyllenhaal) attempting to break into television journalism with nothing more than a camera and a police scanner. Clueless at first, the young man discovers he has good instincts. Then, he finds a ratings-challenged news station that is willing to pay him good money for gory footage of crime and accidents; things the mean streets of L.A. would seem to have a lot of. Within mere moments of screen time, Gyllenhaal has graduated to having a fast sports car, top shelf equipment, and even an assistant. His footage is a potential career saver for TV journalist Rene Russo. But there is competition for this bloody footage (surprisingly little, though) and soon Jake finds himself not only recording the blood, but sometimes thinking he has to cause it as well. He finds himself compelled to sabotage his primary competitor, demand sexual favors from Russo, withhold the identities of multi-murderers, and even sacrifice his partner's life. When will his world come crashing down on him? Or will it?
That little synopsis is more compelling than many of the scenes. The script plays like a first draft, with no major plot twists that you cannot see coming from a mile away. Some possibilities are offered, then left to dry up on the vine. The manner in which Jake films the mass shooting at a swanky home, leads the viewer to expect that he will in fact be a suspect in the crime. It would not surprise me to learn there is a different draft in which they did actually go that route, and some of the shots were set up to move the story in that direction. Alas, Jake is merely accused only of withholding the identities of the killers. A detective threatens him harshly at his apartment about the possibility he could be charged with obstruction and whatnot. NOTHING comes of this scene. Nothing. Gyllenhaal's performance is uneven. In the first half of the film, he seems to be aping Travis Bickle with his asocial honesty and lack of people skills. By the second act, he is a cold know-it-all who talks down to his assistant and the people at the TV station. By the film's final act, he is a slick, slimy pseudo TV producer. It just doesn't seem like he'd morph so quickly. And if this business is so competitive, why is Bill Paxton the only other guy who seems to show up and compete for footage? This coulda, and shoulda been better. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
The only thing worse than a nightcrawler is the coroner in the eyes of a victim
StevePulaski3 November 2014
"Nightcrawler" is the kind of film that will catch audiences by surprise with its painstaking thoughtfulness, and features the kind of lead character that will be discussed in film circles who don't detest American cinema and actually give it the benefit of the doubt. The film plunges us into the dark, seedy world of a nightcrawler, somebody who, often working freelance with his or her own equipment and schedule, patrols the streets of crowded cities with multiple police scanners searching for recently-committed crimes in the neighborhood, like rape, shootings, murders, car accidents, and so forth. The object of a nightcrawler is to get candid and intimate shots of the ugliness that plagues these scenarios as quickly and as neatly as possible and sell them to news stations or eyewitness programs to turn quick profit. Job requirements include possible insomniac, lack of emotional connection or any immediate empathy to tragedy or horror, exceptional navigational/driving skills, and a load of free time.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a man at rock-bottom living in Los Angeles, selling scrap metal to get money before eventually turning to the nightcrawling business. He teams up with Rick (Riz Ahmed), a young man desperate to make money to keep a roof over his head, who helps navigate Lou's routes as a nightcrawler and learns of numerous police codes to help Lou decipher the police scanner jargon. Together, the two make for an amateur nightcrawling team, turning profit by selling the footage – expertly shot, analyzed, and even occasionally manipulated by Lou – to Nina (Rene Russo), the station manager of a severely failing news station that is in dire need to regain viewership.
Ultimately, "Nightcrawler" juggles two tricky but immersing features with its material, simultaneously giving us a look into a grimy and often dirty gig as somebody who is essentially a voyeur into the most vulnerable time of the people he meets and posing frightening commentary on contemporary news. The nightcrawler is not looking to help or to provide encouragement; he's there to get his shots and move on, hoping to turn as large of a profit as he can. We see Los Angeles in the light of what could be classifiable as a contemporary film noir, in dark, sometimes shadowy-photography and dingy environments that reveal an ugliness to a city that is normally captured as very beautiful and ideal in terms of climate. Director Dan Gilroy and cinematographer Robert Elswit (a frequent collaborator of Paul Thomas Anderson) do everything in their power to subvert our ideas of Los Angeles and focus on transitory locations that show the ugliest of human events in such a way that is beautiful and captivating thanks to crystal-clear photography.
The other feature "Nightcrawler" toys with is the contemporary exploration of journalistic ethics and how, with local cable news competing with so many twenty-four hour news stations, who, in turn, are also battling more rapidly-updated social media websites, the manipulation of news is ever-present on Television. News programs, like sitcoms, reality shows, and sports events, are a game of numbers and those numbers are ratings – something that "Nightcrawler" makes depressingly clear to us. A crucial scene to this message comes into play when Lou has shot and sold the defining tape of his career and has worked to manipulate it for personal gain. He watches as Nina plays the tape on the air, directing the news anchors in such a specific way in terms of language and mannerisms that we see the fear-mongering happen right before our eyes.
On top of all the social commentary, we see amazingly realistic crime scenes and car accidents to boot. Perhaps it's the lack of intimacy many directors lend to these situations, often showing a car accident, and characters limping and trudging along with little bloodshed, but "Nightcrawler" details these scenes with an incredible eye for attention and realism. Gilroy makes us the voyeur and gives the window into these car accidents that we glance over to see but not entirely anticipate or really want to see. The attention to detail in these seems is simply exquisite and uncommonly believable.
"Nightcrawler," in addition, features a wonderful performance by Gyllenhaal who, like his co-star Paul Dano in last year's "Prisoners," plays detached and empty with such conviction, and channels something of an inner-Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Owning Mahowny," showing his character's complete fulfillment when obsessing over his job and his work. Even Riz Ahmed shouldn't be overlooked here, playing the overworked and under-appreciated assistant to Gyllenhaal's Lou in a role that could've been an empty, and even distracting, side role. The entire project is rich in commentary, performances, and environmental beauty that it could easily be one of the most complete films of the year.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a man at rock-bottom living in Los Angeles, selling scrap metal to get money before eventually turning to the nightcrawling business. He teams up with Rick (Riz Ahmed), a young man desperate to make money to keep a roof over his head, who helps navigate Lou's routes as a nightcrawler and learns of numerous police codes to help Lou decipher the police scanner jargon. Together, the two make for an amateur nightcrawling team, turning profit by selling the footage – expertly shot, analyzed, and even occasionally manipulated by Lou – to Nina (Rene Russo), the station manager of a severely failing news station that is in dire need to regain viewership.
Ultimately, "Nightcrawler" juggles two tricky but immersing features with its material, simultaneously giving us a look into a grimy and often dirty gig as somebody who is essentially a voyeur into the most vulnerable time of the people he meets and posing frightening commentary on contemporary news. The nightcrawler is not looking to help or to provide encouragement; he's there to get his shots and move on, hoping to turn as large of a profit as he can. We see Los Angeles in the light of what could be classifiable as a contemporary film noir, in dark, sometimes shadowy-photography and dingy environments that reveal an ugliness to a city that is normally captured as very beautiful and ideal in terms of climate. Director Dan Gilroy and cinematographer Robert Elswit (a frequent collaborator of Paul Thomas Anderson) do everything in their power to subvert our ideas of Los Angeles and focus on transitory locations that show the ugliest of human events in such a way that is beautiful and captivating thanks to crystal-clear photography.
The other feature "Nightcrawler" toys with is the contemporary exploration of journalistic ethics and how, with local cable news competing with so many twenty-four hour news stations, who, in turn, are also battling more rapidly-updated social media websites, the manipulation of news is ever-present on Television. News programs, like sitcoms, reality shows, and sports events, are a game of numbers and those numbers are ratings – something that "Nightcrawler" makes depressingly clear to us. A crucial scene to this message comes into play when Lou has shot and sold the defining tape of his career and has worked to manipulate it for personal gain. He watches as Nina plays the tape on the air, directing the news anchors in such a specific way in terms of language and mannerisms that we see the fear-mongering happen right before our eyes.
On top of all the social commentary, we see amazingly realistic crime scenes and car accidents to boot. Perhaps it's the lack of intimacy many directors lend to these situations, often showing a car accident, and characters limping and trudging along with little bloodshed, but "Nightcrawler" details these scenes with an incredible eye for attention and realism. Gilroy makes us the voyeur and gives the window into these car accidents that we glance over to see but not entirely anticipate or really want to see. The attention to detail in these seems is simply exquisite and uncommonly believable.
"Nightcrawler," in addition, features a wonderful performance by Gyllenhaal who, like his co-star Paul Dano in last year's "Prisoners," plays detached and empty with such conviction, and channels something of an inner-Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Owning Mahowny," showing his character's complete fulfillment when obsessing over his job and his work. Even Riz Ahmed shouldn't be overlooked here, playing the overworked and under-appreciated assistant to Gyllenhaal's Lou in a role that could've been an empty, and even distracting, side role. The entire project is rich in commentary, performances, and environmental beauty that it could easily be one of the most complete films of the year.
6 is being VERY generous
nicko25200829 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The dialogue in the movie was well written really well and the director did a fantastic job, but I have a few gripes and the story as a whole was missing a lot. First, how Lou just gets into this. He just shows up to a news station with video. Like "here ya go" oh OK thanks for the horror videos! What? Nobody questions him at all, then he is laughing it up with the people in the news network. This guy could be a psycho (he is) they don't know him from a ham sandwich. Second, he breaks a ton of laws. You cannot enter scene of a crime PERIOD, or tamper with evidence. Or how he films people in their last moments dying, aren't you legally supposed to help? There is a law for that. Yelled at the screen many times like "oh come on" Walking into somebody's house filming without their permission and taking video of family photos? Illegal. I can't remember the last movie in which I despised the main character so much. And 2 months in he is in a SRT dodge and paying his helper $35 a night... that's insulting. Then he threatens him with no consequences. Bill Paxton's character never shows up a again after a car accident. He shoved the camera in his face while he was being carried into an ambulance, i was hoping he would come and get revenge. Instead, we get no development but "i bough new cars/vans better camera" oh wow 2 hours to buy vans. NO BACK STORY on this creep, but he "comes from the valley" I wanted Karma to catch him, but unfortunately it didn't. The movie just ends... Jake could have and should have gotten an oscar nomination but, they probably looked at this and understood there was ZERO arch in this character whether it was done deliberately or not Iam not sure. The movie really suffered because of that IMHO. He doesn't flip out or come to a realization of what he is doing, just the same blank guy the ENTIRE FILM. This could have been an epic movie but we get no other story besides him trying to pressure an ageing news woman to sleep with him for employment advancement. That's all we get? 6 stars for the cold acting, shots of LA, and the dialogue written. -4 for unanswered questions, factual errors and a weird, rushed ending.
Doesn't Pause Enough To Examine The Really Great Material
zkonedog27 February 2017
On the surface, "Nightcrawler" is a very well-made film. The production value is high, the visuals are great, acting is solid, and it delves into a number of very relevant themes regarding journalism and TV news. The problem, however, is that director Dan Gilroy doesn't pause nearly enough to examine the really interesting parts of the film. Instead, everything in the movie is kind of viewed in the abstract...with very little (and thus I would argue not nearly enough) context given in order to make it a truly great piece of film-making.
For a basic plot summary, "Nightcrawler" sees Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) trying desperately to find a job in a rough economy. One night, he stumbles upon a crime scene and meets Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), an independent TV news cameraman who impresses Louis with his ability to "do the dirty work" and get paid handsomely for it. So, Louis decides to get into the TV journalism business himself, even doing well enough to hire a partner in Rick (Riz Ahmed). Along the way, Louis also develops a relationship (that some might consider inappropriate) with head news director Nina Romina (Rene Russo). Things seem to be going great for Louis and his thriving business...until the night he arrives at a burglary scene before the police, making a number of choices leading him down a shady ethical path that he may or may not recover from.
Easily the two most interesting parts of this film are Gyllenhaal's Louis and the movie's examination of the TV news business. Both of those subjects carry very weighty, relevant themes in today's society and are worthy of examination. Unfortunately, both are also just kind of glossed over in favor of "the spectacle" in this case.
Louis is one of the strangest characters I've ever seen on the big screen (done to perfection, as usual, by the underrated Gyllenhaal). On one hand, you can kind of feel sorry for him, as he never seems to catch a break early on. On the other hand, he is such a smarmy individual that he is far from like-able. Usually I like this kind of ambiguity in my film characters, but in this case it comes off more as confusing than interesting. At the end of flick, I didn't feel like I cared any more about Louis than I did, oh, 20 or so minutes in.
As for the many themes regarding televised news, I really wish the pace of the film would have allowed even more examination of them. There is a character in the newsroom (played by Kevin Rahm) who always bring up the ethical issues of what is transpiring, but he is quickly pushed aside each and every time. Perhaps that is a statement being made in and of itself, but I still feel like the movie wanted us (as viewers) to take a few too many things at face value. I wanted to see the principals struggle a bit regarding their decisions. There just didn't seem to be any conflict in what was happening.
Overall, though, "Nightcrawler" isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. In my mind, it is the complete and utter personification of a "three star effort", as it easily did enough to hold my interest, yet didn't do anything more to really make me care in the end. To me, this was very much a "take it or leave it" experience. Had some closer examination of themes/characters taken place, I think it could have been much, much more interesting.
For a basic plot summary, "Nightcrawler" sees Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) trying desperately to find a job in a rough economy. One night, he stumbles upon a crime scene and meets Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), an independent TV news cameraman who impresses Louis with his ability to "do the dirty work" and get paid handsomely for it. So, Louis decides to get into the TV journalism business himself, even doing well enough to hire a partner in Rick (Riz Ahmed). Along the way, Louis also develops a relationship (that some might consider inappropriate) with head news director Nina Romina (Rene Russo). Things seem to be going great for Louis and his thriving business...until the night he arrives at a burglary scene before the police, making a number of choices leading him down a shady ethical path that he may or may not recover from.
Easily the two most interesting parts of this film are Gyllenhaal's Louis and the movie's examination of the TV news business. Both of those subjects carry very weighty, relevant themes in today's society and are worthy of examination. Unfortunately, both are also just kind of glossed over in favor of "the spectacle" in this case.
Louis is one of the strangest characters I've ever seen on the big screen (done to perfection, as usual, by the underrated Gyllenhaal). On one hand, you can kind of feel sorry for him, as he never seems to catch a break early on. On the other hand, he is such a smarmy individual that he is far from like-able. Usually I like this kind of ambiguity in my film characters, but in this case it comes off more as confusing than interesting. At the end of flick, I didn't feel like I cared any more about Louis than I did, oh, 20 or so minutes in.
As for the many themes regarding televised news, I really wish the pace of the film would have allowed even more examination of them. There is a character in the newsroom (played by Kevin Rahm) who always bring up the ethical issues of what is transpiring, but he is quickly pushed aside each and every time. Perhaps that is a statement being made in and of itself, but I still feel like the movie wanted us (as viewers) to take a few too many things at face value. I wanted to see the principals struggle a bit regarding their decisions. There just didn't seem to be any conflict in what was happening.
Overall, though, "Nightcrawler" isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. In my mind, it is the complete and utter personification of a "three star effort", as it easily did enough to hold my interest, yet didn't do anything more to really make me care in the end. To me, this was very much a "take it or leave it" experience. Had some closer examination of themes/characters taken place, I think it could have been much, much more interesting.
All in a Night's Work
billygoat107113 November 2014
Nightcrawler seems like a satire to modern television news about how they choose their leads or often seek for more ratings by entertaining their viewers rather than aim straightly to the facts. But there is a much interesting story beneath here and that is the main character, Louis Bloom. The guy that easily manipulates people with his sinister tricks of persuasion. Everything else may just be the natural world of crime and accidents, but in the eyes of this character, the experience is made far stranger and oddly fascinating. This provides a compellingly menacing and provoking piece of commentary which results to such engrossing film.
What the plot mostly does is to fully absorb the viewers into the character of Bloom by studying his sociopathic behavior and the words coming out from his mouth. He is a charming young man with a dark intention hidden behind his grins. He pushes the limits of the law and his own safety, only to accomplish on what he must do in the job, even if it risks many people's lives. The actions of this antihero is ought to feel terrifying on how it affects to both the business he's working on and the society he is watching. The media's side however is more of a picture of cynicism on how they broadcast the scariest stories of the city, giving the people fear so they could earn more viewers out of the concern. It just breaks down on how the evil of their success is disguised as their own ethics.
The filmmaking perfectly captures their night's work. You couldn't clearly see the scenario they shoot unless you watch them on a video footage. The violence and peril they witness are shown without any hint of sympathy, since they only use them for the news show. The horror of these gritty scenes once again belongs to the nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the biggest highlights here. His character obviously has the personality of a psychotic villain; he is mostly bluffing, and by the dashing enthusiasm he shows to the people around him, you probably may not know when his inner total madness will burst out from his frightening eyeballs, and that provides more tension than you expect. This is one of the Gyllenhaal performances that will be remembered for his career.
Out of common sense, this story may lead its main character to a moral about how much he is taking this job too far, probably destroying his humanity. But no, this guy is relentless, almost inhumane, and his style in fact helps his career grow bigger, which turns out we are actually rooting for a villain. And that probably pictures to some oppressive ambitious beings out there behind some system. This is where things go in the end, bringing an outcome to a social satire. You can spot a lot of relevance even when some of the situations get a little out of hand. Nightcrawler is something else than a sentiment, what we must focus here is Lou Bloom: a new, possibly iconic, movie vigilante, except the only skin he is purposely saving is himself and his career.
What the plot mostly does is to fully absorb the viewers into the character of Bloom by studying his sociopathic behavior and the words coming out from his mouth. He is a charming young man with a dark intention hidden behind his grins. He pushes the limits of the law and his own safety, only to accomplish on what he must do in the job, even if it risks many people's lives. The actions of this antihero is ought to feel terrifying on how it affects to both the business he's working on and the society he is watching. The media's side however is more of a picture of cynicism on how they broadcast the scariest stories of the city, giving the people fear so they could earn more viewers out of the concern. It just breaks down on how the evil of their success is disguised as their own ethics.
The filmmaking perfectly captures their night's work. You couldn't clearly see the scenario they shoot unless you watch them on a video footage. The violence and peril they witness are shown without any hint of sympathy, since they only use them for the news show. The horror of these gritty scenes once again belongs to the nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the biggest highlights here. His character obviously has the personality of a psychotic villain; he is mostly bluffing, and by the dashing enthusiasm he shows to the people around him, you probably may not know when his inner total madness will burst out from his frightening eyeballs, and that provides more tension than you expect. This is one of the Gyllenhaal performances that will be remembered for his career.
Out of common sense, this story may lead its main character to a moral about how much he is taking this job too far, probably destroying his humanity. But no, this guy is relentless, almost inhumane, and his style in fact helps his career grow bigger, which turns out we are actually rooting for a villain. And that probably pictures to some oppressive ambitious beings out there behind some system. This is where things go in the end, bringing an outcome to a social satire. You can spot a lot of relevance even when some of the situations get a little out of hand. Nightcrawler is something else than a sentiment, what we must focus here is Lou Bloom: a new, possibly iconic, movie vigilante, except the only skin he is purposely saving is himself and his career.
A gruelling journey
Leofwine_draca7 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
NIGHTCRAWLER is an engaging, ever-so-dark character study/thriller which explores the subject of voyeurism - particularly the very human, rubber-necking trait of becoming obsessed by murders, crime, accidents and bloodshed. This atypical, fresh-feeling film plays out in an inventive way, inviting the viewer to go on a heart-of-darkness style journey alongside a gaunt and frightening Jake Gyllenhaal, doing his obsessed thing again after ZODIAC and even less human this time around. What transpires is ghoulishly entertaining, featuring strong supporting turns from Rene Russo and Riz Ahmed as others along for the ride, building to a quietly devastating climax. I could have done with the character work a little more grey rather than so explicitly black and white, especially at the slightly contrived climax, but otherwise this is well made stuff.
Crazy eyes
SnoopyStyle4 June 2015
Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an unemployed petty thieve in L.A. He encounters Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) who is filming a car crash. He decides to get into the business of freelance videography for the local news. He is unrestrained in his filming which is exactly what news director Nina Romina (Rene Russo) needs to raise her low ratings. Desperate Rick answers his ad to be his assistant. This is great acting from Gyllenhaal. His crazy eyes pull in the audience right away. In fact, it's shocking to see his gaunt figure. His mannerisms are really creepy. The story is driven by this great performance and the tension never lets up.
Crossing the Line Through Sheer Ambition
FilmMuscle2 November 2014
Whereas Gone Girl explored the wild misconceptions and dangerous influence of the media, Nightcrawler explores another even more corrupted facet of the entity's nature: shamelessly capitalizing on the popularity of crime television—violence, murder, blood, gunshots. The program's ratings continue heightening along with the network's desire for even more thrilling footage. Nightcrawler follows Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he climbs up the ladder of success and builds a career through rash ambition. Lacking a formal education and adequate work experience, he's truly a victim of the unfair modern job market/unemployment. So, he says "screw it" and takes matters into his own hands, acting with sheer desperation and eagerness to reach that level of power and affluence America so often glorifies.
After personally witnessing a car accident on the freeway as snooping reporters close in, the scene lights a fire inside Louis and inspires him to give the job a try. Soon afterwards, he purchases a camcorder and a radio scanner, persistently discovering new crime scenes to capture on tape as intimately as he possibly can. Thus, his extensive coverage grabs the attention of a morning news channel, and a special relationship forms therein: a consistent supply of new gruesome/entertaining crime footage for an increasing sum of money. As we see the frightening lengths Louis is willing to strive towards in order to prove himself as a proficient workingman and elevate his value above and beyond, this grave thriller intermittently surprises us with effectively mocking twisted humor, but the incredibly deranged human psychology on display keeps us startled and tense throughout regardless.
Gyllenhaal arguably gives the absolute best performance of his career in a role that substantially differentiates from his earlier work. His creepy, relaxed composure hides the true inner scariness and ferocity. Publicly, Louis is a professional, polite, and upstanding citizen who's just looking to work hard. Privately, he violently yells in front of a mirror until he shatters it, as well as blackmails a TV news director to further his career. Rene Russo also impresses as the morning news director—almost as daring in her lust for more provocative violent imagery—who's beguiled by this eccentric and only (mistakenly) fuels Louis' psychotic drive. In addition, Riz Ahmed's Rick serves as Louis' gullible, clueless "employee" who just wants to escape the dispiriting state of homelessness and finally earn a living, completely unaware of the perilous and unethical situations he'll be cast in along his employer's selfishly ruthless path.
This isn't the kind of film whose quality solely relies on a central performance because the narrative is just as cruelly gripping. Unfortunately, the film industry is stocked with so many safe crowdpleasers and compromising thrillers that it's wholly refreshing to see these uncompromisingly grim, chilling psychological character studies occasionally pop up. The film becomes more morally repulsive and disturbing as it proceeds while the satire on the American Dream and merciless ambition becomes that much more brutal. Nightcrawler is deeply unsettling as well as it is honest in its portrayal—Los Angeles is actually the perfect setting, beautifully shot in its alluring and deceptive nighttime scenery. After all, it is probably the #1 destination for the unrelentingly audacious and reckless individuals of the nation in search of a prosperous career.
After personally witnessing a car accident on the freeway as snooping reporters close in, the scene lights a fire inside Louis and inspires him to give the job a try. Soon afterwards, he purchases a camcorder and a radio scanner, persistently discovering new crime scenes to capture on tape as intimately as he possibly can. Thus, his extensive coverage grabs the attention of a morning news channel, and a special relationship forms therein: a consistent supply of new gruesome/entertaining crime footage for an increasing sum of money. As we see the frightening lengths Louis is willing to strive towards in order to prove himself as a proficient workingman and elevate his value above and beyond, this grave thriller intermittently surprises us with effectively mocking twisted humor, but the incredibly deranged human psychology on display keeps us startled and tense throughout regardless.
Gyllenhaal arguably gives the absolute best performance of his career in a role that substantially differentiates from his earlier work. His creepy, relaxed composure hides the true inner scariness and ferocity. Publicly, Louis is a professional, polite, and upstanding citizen who's just looking to work hard. Privately, he violently yells in front of a mirror until he shatters it, as well as blackmails a TV news director to further his career. Rene Russo also impresses as the morning news director—almost as daring in her lust for more provocative violent imagery—who's beguiled by this eccentric and only (mistakenly) fuels Louis' psychotic drive. In addition, Riz Ahmed's Rick serves as Louis' gullible, clueless "employee" who just wants to escape the dispiriting state of homelessness and finally earn a living, completely unaware of the perilous and unethical situations he'll be cast in along his employer's selfishly ruthless path.
This isn't the kind of film whose quality solely relies on a central performance because the narrative is just as cruelly gripping. Unfortunately, the film industry is stocked with so many safe crowdpleasers and compromising thrillers that it's wholly refreshing to see these uncompromisingly grim, chilling psychological character studies occasionally pop up. The film becomes more morally repulsive and disturbing as it proceeds while the satire on the American Dream and merciless ambition becomes that much more brutal. Nightcrawler is deeply unsettling as well as it is honest in its portrayal—Los Angeles is actually the perfect setting, beautifully shot in its alluring and deceptive nighttime scenery. After all, it is probably the #1 destination for the unrelentingly audacious and reckless individuals of the nation in search of a prosperous career.
Gyllenhaal does it again
madmika14 March 2024
I'd like to emphasize one thing that gets me with every movie this guy is in. The acting. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting never fails to impress me. He had the crazy eyes in this movie, and to be honest, it made me look away a few times. Very eerie addition to the character, love this guy. His demeanor reminded me of his role in The Guilty. The movie itself was pretty good. I hate an open ending, but I think it fits well with the theme and meaning of the actual film. It leaves u to interpret the ending and its connection to the real world. Overall, I recommend, especially if u love a mentally unstable and uncanny Gyllenhaal role.
Media propaganda meets psycho in this fascinating film
gotlbh3 February 2015
This film essentially tells the story of an ambitious and somewhat psychotic news video freelancer (played by Jake Gyllenhall) who will do anything, literally, to make his way in the world and be successful and a media editor (played by Rene Russo) who,in her own world of news casting, also has few if any scruples when it comes to her career and reputation. Put the two together and you get an escalating set of events in which the video freelancer goes to greater and greater extremes to film shocking scenes of crime, encouraged along by the media editor who is paying for his results.
What makes the film more interesting than just another action drama is the social commentary and the character studies. The main characters are very well crafted, believable, explained through back drop and excellently acted out. The parallels between them are also interesting to observe. Both pretty much without any care for the people around them and focused solely on personal gain. What the video guy will do to get his paycheck is shocking, but what the media editor will do to get her news reel is just as distasteful.
The social commentary is also sharp. The media is portrayed essentially as caring about nothing but a good story, even in fact if that story happens to be untrue. What matters is the narrative and the narrative has to fit the agenda of the media agency. By this measure all news is little more than propaganda. The video guy, despite his barbaric methods and behaviour, is also tolerated by those around him and the message, at least from the media editor and her team (acknowledging one dissenting voice in the film), is that it is OK to be cruel and to hurt others if it is in the pursuit of personal ambition. Both are valid observations and comments on today's society, whether we, the viewers, happen to agree with them or not.
The film also has a touch of originality which isn't easy to do these days when so many movies have already been made. Yes there are studies out there of psychos, yes there are films that vilify the media and there are films about morbid voyeurism and about the exploitation of victims of crime for personal gain. The originality comes from putting them all together. I couldn't really think of a parallel, although others might.
This is well worth watching. You may not ultimately enjoy the film, after all it isn't pleasant, but I am fairly sure you will remember it.
What makes the film more interesting than just another action drama is the social commentary and the character studies. The main characters are very well crafted, believable, explained through back drop and excellently acted out. The parallels between them are also interesting to observe. Both pretty much without any care for the people around them and focused solely on personal gain. What the video guy will do to get his paycheck is shocking, but what the media editor will do to get her news reel is just as distasteful.
The social commentary is also sharp. The media is portrayed essentially as caring about nothing but a good story, even in fact if that story happens to be untrue. What matters is the narrative and the narrative has to fit the agenda of the media agency. By this measure all news is little more than propaganda. The video guy, despite his barbaric methods and behaviour, is also tolerated by those around him and the message, at least from the media editor and her team (acknowledging one dissenting voice in the film), is that it is OK to be cruel and to hurt others if it is in the pursuit of personal ambition. Both are valid observations and comments on today's society, whether we, the viewers, happen to agree with them or not.
The film also has a touch of originality which isn't easy to do these days when so many movies have already been made. Yes there are studies out there of psychos, yes there are films that vilify the media and there are films about morbid voyeurism and about the exploitation of victims of crime for personal gain. The originality comes from putting them all together. I couldn't really think of a parallel, although others might.
This is well worth watching. You may not ultimately enjoy the film, after all it isn't pleasant, but I am fairly sure you will remember it.
What is all the fuss about?
edfilmsuk14 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I heard absolutely glowing reviews of 'Nightcrawler'. Critics raved about it. Friends recommended it. But one question remains: what is all the fuss about? Nightcrawler is a decent movie. But there were some scenes - and sequences for that matter - that dragged, and Jake Gyllenhaal's character was creepy, unlikable and surprisingly underdeveloped.
Arguably, what prevented me from giving this movie a generous 6 is that the movie culminated in an adrenaline-filled, high-octane chase sequence at the end. It got me quite giddy, and provoking this type of emotional response is more often than not indicative of a good thriller.
It's such a shame that it ended so vaguely and the plot was a bit weak. For example, a great plot movement could have been if Gyllenhaal's character started MAKING the news and then filming it. That would have been more interesting.
Anyway, this is my opinion. I went into this movie with high expectations, which is always dangerous, and I was disappointed. Nevertheless I'm glad I watched it, I've definitely seen worse.
Arguably, what prevented me from giving this movie a generous 6 is that the movie culminated in an adrenaline-filled, high-octane chase sequence at the end. It got me quite giddy, and provoking this type of emotional response is more often than not indicative of a good thriller.
It's such a shame that it ended so vaguely and the plot was a bit weak. For example, a great plot movement could have been if Gyllenhaal's character started MAKING the news and then filming it. That would have been more interesting.
Anyway, this is my opinion. I went into this movie with high expectations, which is always dangerous, and I was disappointed. Nevertheless I'm glad I watched it, I've definitely seen worse.
THE Film of the year
pschofield-292-68258922 October 2014
This is one of the few films that has held me in my seat from beginning to very end even when half way through I desperately needed to visit the bathroom . The storyline, script, filming and acting combine into the perfect storm of a brilliant film. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a character, on what I can only describe as at the higher end of the autistic spectrum and deserves an Oscar nomination for this role. His character is perfectly matched by Rene Russo playing the role of her career as the success seeking ageing news editor. And a shout too for Riz Ahmed as Rick, Gyllenhaal's assistant. What a contrast to "The Judge" which I saw last week, "Nightcrawler" is superior on every level, go see !
Good Flick, but with Strange Multi-Layered Symbolism
imdbtruth9 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
The movie itself was pretty good. It had a nice pace and kept me interested the whole time.
But what grabbed my attention more was the symbolism I interpreted from the movie...
1. The Parasitic Media - The most obvious message/symbolism from this film is its portrayal of the media as nothing more than a parasitic entity. This is a sentiment I can agree with.
2. Channel 666 - Most of the symbolism didn't really rear its head until late in the film. When Lou was talking to Nina (Rene Russo) in the studio, they were standing in front of TV's stacked in rows of 3, all showing the channel 6 logo,obviously "666" aka Mark of the Beast...This was meant to catch your attention, so that you might pickup on the rest of the underlying symbolism. It also served as a further indictment on media, symbolizing that the media itself is "of the devil" or evil.
3. "I think Lou's had a big influence on us all" - When I heard Nina say this to the guy trying to warn her that she was letting Lou have too much influence on her, I somehow immediately understood the underlying message/symbolism... When she said "Lou has had a big influence on us all", this wasn't actually just a reference to the character "Lou", this was a veiled reference to Lucifer (aka Satan, aka the devil) having "a big influence on us all"...
$. "Lou" represents Lucifer - Now i don't mean that Lou is literally supposed to be Lucifer in the movie, but he is following the archetype and displaying the devil's traits. He tricks people and makes them feel as though they are being forced to make a deal with him... Nina is willing to sacrifice anything and decides to allow herself to be controlled and manipulated by Lou the lunatic, symbolically, this is her selling her soul to Lucifer. Lou's partner Rick almost walked away from it, but sin got the better of him, and he too ended up making a deal with Lou, again this symbolizes him selling his soul to the devil... Rick thought that if he could demand enough in return, it might actually end up being a fair deal for him, but that devil is tricky, and the moment he no longer had a use for Rick, he led Rick right into his eternal death. In the beginning of the movie, Lou tries to negotiate employment from the scrap yard owner, but the scrap yard owner firmly rebuked him, calling him out as a thief... The scrap yard owner chose not to sell his soul to the devil...
5. Rise of the Psychopath - It is actually quite common for those you might call "psychopaths" or "sociopaths" to attain positions of great power and influence... People who psychiatrists would label as psychopaths, are people who seek power by all means, and they have zero empathy or sympathy for others... Most people are not like this, a normal person has limits and boundaries, the "psychopath and/or sociopath" does not suffer these restrictions, and they take full advantage... It is a little known fact, that among those in the "super-elite class" it is common to find people that could be categorized as a psychopath, but others would say they're just plain evil, or bat-crap crazy... Anyhow, I believe that the director is also aware that it is quite common for people like Lou to work their way into positions of power. When the movie starts, Lou is a nobody, and by the end of the movie, this lunatic was well on his way to achieving his goal of owning a network. The message here is that places like Washington DC, Hollywood, and "Wall St.", are filled with "nutjobs" who have no sympathy or empathy for their fellow man, rather they seek to dominate and control their fellow man.
7. FINAL - Symbolism Synopsis - So what does all this symbolism culminate into? What overall underlying message did the director want to transmit? I'm not 100% sure...
What's with the 666/Lucifer symbolism? Would the director go to such great lengths to show the media as evil or corrupt? Was it necessary to bring Lucifer element into it, just to symbolically hammer home the most obvious message of the movie (that the media is evil)? That seems like overkill to me... I'm not really sure why he chose to use this Luciferian element... It certainly isn't an attempt at any kind of "pro-christian" message, nor does it in anyway culminate into an "anti-christian" message... What is he trying to say????
What do we have to work with? 1. Lucifer Symbolism 2. Media is Evil 3. "Mentally ill" people rise to positions of power
The only message I can see all this symbolism adding up to, is a message that the people with the most power are psychopathic satanists, who use all forms of media to manipulate and control us. I do NOT really endorse the notion that that was the underlying or hidden message in the movie... Some gigantic leaps must be made if one is to accept this interpretation...
But as far as I can tell, it's either that, or the symbolism is ONLY meant to further illuminate the evils of the media, which also doesn't seem likely...
And if the writer/director did intend for the symbolism to be interpreted along the lines of "satanic lunatics control the world", then why make it so veiled??? The symbolism is so subtle that anybody who is able to pickup on it, would have to already be knowledgeable on such subjects... Which would make trying to convey this underlying message to the masses pointless, because nobody is going to get it... Unless his intention was to be smug and rub your face in it, knowing you wont pickup on nor understand the underlying message.
But what grabbed my attention more was the symbolism I interpreted from the movie...
1. The Parasitic Media - The most obvious message/symbolism from this film is its portrayal of the media as nothing more than a parasitic entity. This is a sentiment I can agree with.
2. Channel 666 - Most of the symbolism didn't really rear its head until late in the film. When Lou was talking to Nina (Rene Russo) in the studio, they were standing in front of TV's stacked in rows of 3, all showing the channel 6 logo,obviously "666" aka Mark of the Beast...This was meant to catch your attention, so that you might pickup on the rest of the underlying symbolism. It also served as a further indictment on media, symbolizing that the media itself is "of the devil" or evil.
3. "I think Lou's had a big influence on us all" - When I heard Nina say this to the guy trying to warn her that she was letting Lou have too much influence on her, I somehow immediately understood the underlying message/symbolism... When she said "Lou has had a big influence on us all", this wasn't actually just a reference to the character "Lou", this was a veiled reference to Lucifer (aka Satan, aka the devil) having "a big influence on us all"...
$. "Lou" represents Lucifer - Now i don't mean that Lou is literally supposed to be Lucifer in the movie, but he is following the archetype and displaying the devil's traits. He tricks people and makes them feel as though they are being forced to make a deal with him... Nina is willing to sacrifice anything and decides to allow herself to be controlled and manipulated by Lou the lunatic, symbolically, this is her selling her soul to Lucifer. Lou's partner Rick almost walked away from it, but sin got the better of him, and he too ended up making a deal with Lou, again this symbolizes him selling his soul to the devil... Rick thought that if he could demand enough in return, it might actually end up being a fair deal for him, but that devil is tricky, and the moment he no longer had a use for Rick, he led Rick right into his eternal death. In the beginning of the movie, Lou tries to negotiate employment from the scrap yard owner, but the scrap yard owner firmly rebuked him, calling him out as a thief... The scrap yard owner chose not to sell his soul to the devil...
5. Rise of the Psychopath - It is actually quite common for those you might call "psychopaths" or "sociopaths" to attain positions of great power and influence... People who psychiatrists would label as psychopaths, are people who seek power by all means, and they have zero empathy or sympathy for others... Most people are not like this, a normal person has limits and boundaries, the "psychopath and/or sociopath" does not suffer these restrictions, and they take full advantage... It is a little known fact, that among those in the "super-elite class" it is common to find people that could be categorized as a psychopath, but others would say they're just plain evil, or bat-crap crazy... Anyhow, I believe that the director is also aware that it is quite common for people like Lou to work their way into positions of power. When the movie starts, Lou is a nobody, and by the end of the movie, this lunatic was well on his way to achieving his goal of owning a network. The message here is that places like Washington DC, Hollywood, and "Wall St.", are filled with "nutjobs" who have no sympathy or empathy for their fellow man, rather they seek to dominate and control their fellow man.
7. FINAL - Symbolism Synopsis - So what does all this symbolism culminate into? What overall underlying message did the director want to transmit? I'm not 100% sure...
What's with the 666/Lucifer symbolism? Would the director go to such great lengths to show the media as evil or corrupt? Was it necessary to bring Lucifer element into it, just to symbolically hammer home the most obvious message of the movie (that the media is evil)? That seems like overkill to me... I'm not really sure why he chose to use this Luciferian element... It certainly isn't an attempt at any kind of "pro-christian" message, nor does it in anyway culminate into an "anti-christian" message... What is he trying to say????
What do we have to work with? 1. Lucifer Symbolism 2. Media is Evil 3. "Mentally ill" people rise to positions of power
The only message I can see all this symbolism adding up to, is a message that the people with the most power are psychopathic satanists, who use all forms of media to manipulate and control us. I do NOT really endorse the notion that that was the underlying or hidden message in the movie... Some gigantic leaps must be made if one is to accept this interpretation...
But as far as I can tell, it's either that, or the symbolism is ONLY meant to further illuminate the evils of the media, which also doesn't seem likely...
And if the writer/director did intend for the symbolism to be interpreted along the lines of "satanic lunatics control the world", then why make it so veiled??? The symbolism is so subtle that anybody who is able to pickup on it, would have to already be knowledgeable on such subjects... Which would make trying to convey this underlying message to the masses pointless, because nobody is going to get it... Unless his intention was to be smug and rub your face in it, knowing you wont pickup on nor understand the underlying message.
Disappointingly pedestrian, nowhere near delivers on potential
rabbitmoon27 October 2014
Its an intriguing concept, and I love a good urban-night thriller (Collateral, Drive etc), but this was hugely disappointing. Here's what was wrong: - Rene Russo (as well as other actors) make it feel like a bargain basement DVD movie. I can't help but feel like she was shoe-horned into this by her husband, the writer/director. She seems just as ill-placed as she was in his other written movie, Two For The Money. The handling of her character felt awkward and unbelievable. A TV studio director being manipulated by this young, cocky loser? Its absolutely ridiculous, and it feels like Rene knows this whilst she's trying to act it out. - Jake Gyllenhaal tries his best but the character just isn't deep, nuanced or credible enough to be properly fleshed out. It all feels written, showy and trying to be clever - but annoying. The script aims for Norman Bates but comes across more like Macauley Culkin trying to buy a toothbrush in Home Alone. The character could have been played equally well (if not better) by Jared Leto, Michael Cera, or someone more up-and-coming. This is a step backward for Jake after Zodiac and Prisoners. - The story is hugely underdeveloped. Too much time is spent showing him discovering and getting into the job, as we need an "origin" story. Why? Did we need to see Gosling become a stunt driver in Drive, or Cruise become a hit-man in Collateral? Its really boring to watch, and by the time he's fully fledged and trying to sell his videos, there's little time left to do anything interesting. There's a home invasion/shooting scene he gets to before the police, which is supposed to be some big dramatic centrepiece - except it falls flat. It could have opened with that scene, then developed into the aftermath of it in far more interesting ways than it actually does. There's no actual story here - nothing to engage with properly. - The metaphors and subtexts about voyeurism, media responsibility, moral decline etc just feel heavy handed and redundant. - The soundtrack was dull and not memorable, which is unforgivable in a film like this. Its crying out for a decent atmospheric soundtrack, but we get this David Cronenberg-esque blandness that makes it feel like a misguided sequel to Crash. - Writing and direction are absolutely pedestrian - there is nothing memorable or remarkable about it at all. The writing in particular is flat and underdeveloped, especially with regards to character, story development and subtext.
Its watchable in a late-night obscure eighties throwaway kind of way, but unengaging. It certainly doesn't deserve the hype that its marketing and buzz is creating - its a sheep in wolves clothing.
Its watchable in a late-night obscure eighties throwaway kind of way, but unengaging. It certainly doesn't deserve the hype that its marketing and buzz is creating - its a sheep in wolves clothing.
The Advantages of Psychopathology in a Laissez Faire Capitalist System
gwmdeclare24 December 2014
Lou is a sociopath. Its established at the beginning of the film. Lou will beat you senseless for 100 feet of chain link fence and a fake Rolex.
That he has the drive and audacity to thwart the conventions of decent behaviour without regard to human cost marks him as a sure winner in our dog eat dog world ( unregulated or laissez faire capitalism).
And win he does as he exploits any and every vulnerability his avaricious instincts detect. Whether it be the vulnerability of a news director depending on ratings to keep her job or a down and out young homeless man who will do anything to improve his circumstances.
He's found inspiration, valediction and encouragement in his discovery of 'deep' business platitudes masquerading as acumen on the internet.
Sought, found and, proudly, digested and regurgitated context free, at every opportunity he exhorts and extorts and threatens with the naive impunity of the sociopathic internet autodidact that he is. He is proof that knowledge is power and that a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing indeed
All vulnerabilities must be seen as opportunities and exploited immediately without any regard or the well being of the people involved. They have been deigned by fate to further his cause. That's just how it is in is in his twisted little narcissistic world.
Its an ambitious film that takes on the reality of a society where opportunity is freed from the restraints of common decency by a winner take all ethos fuelled only by the bottom line. This is our dystopia just slightly exaggerated for effect.
A brilliant film expertly realised by all involved.
That he has the drive and audacity to thwart the conventions of decent behaviour without regard to human cost marks him as a sure winner in our dog eat dog world ( unregulated or laissez faire capitalism).
And win he does as he exploits any and every vulnerability his avaricious instincts detect. Whether it be the vulnerability of a news director depending on ratings to keep her job or a down and out young homeless man who will do anything to improve his circumstances.
He's found inspiration, valediction and encouragement in his discovery of 'deep' business platitudes masquerading as acumen on the internet.
Sought, found and, proudly, digested and regurgitated context free, at every opportunity he exhorts and extorts and threatens with the naive impunity of the sociopathic internet autodidact that he is. He is proof that knowledge is power and that a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing indeed
All vulnerabilities must be seen as opportunities and exploited immediately without any regard or the well being of the people involved. They have been deigned by fate to further his cause. That's just how it is in is in his twisted little narcissistic world.
Its an ambitious film that takes on the reality of a society where opportunity is freed from the restraints of common decency by a winner take all ethos fuelled only by the bottom line. This is our dystopia just slightly exaggerated for effect.
A brilliant film expertly realised by all involved.
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