I know that title sounds negative, but screenwriter, Dan Gilroy's directorial debut Nightcrawler, happens to be a very good movie. Just one about some very undesirable things.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom, a guy who very badly wants to find a career. When he stumbles on a pretty nasty wreck on the LA freeway, he decides that video journalism is that career. It's a dark path, but honestly he's a pretty dark guy. As he pawns away what's likely stolen property, he begins to grow his own media company. And as events escalate, it becomes pretty clear Bloom will stop at nothing to be the most successful "nightcrawler" in town.
I don't think it's too soon to be calling out at least an Oscar nomination for Jake Gyllenhaal at this point in time. And while there's still quite a bit to come out before the calendar year is over, Gyllenhaal is absolutely my frontrunner to win. He's just so damn good here. He so completely embodies the presence of a predator... and his performance gives this movie all of the depth it needs.
That is not to say that Dan Gilroy doesn't deserve a great deal of credit. On his first film, the guy absolutely blew it out of the water. His pacing is excellent and the imagery his cinematographer (Robert Elswit) was able to capture just added to the exquisite lore of the real Los Angeles that Louis Bloom was inhabiting. I was impressed with pretty much every aspect of this movie from the writing, to the sound design, to the cast... Everything just plain worked on me. You know, even in this busy film season, I just may carve out a little time to watch this one again.
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