Review of Nightcrawler (2014) by Jonathan B — 13 Sep 2015

Jake Gyllenhaal takes the role of Lou Bloom, a decidedly unlikable and disturbing man, driven by obsessive behaviour. A chance encounter leads him to set himself up as a freelance cameraman who spends his evenings listening to police radio messages in order to get to the scene of accidents and murders so as to film graphic footage to sell to a local TV news station.

His desire to get bigger and more salacious stories is encouraged by a ruthless news editor, Nina (Rene Russo) and by his rival cameraman Loder (Bill Paxton). Bloom is a truly disturbing character who will stop at nothing to get his way and is devoid of a sense of morality.

Gyllenhaal nails this role perfectly, even seeming to blink in a cold hearted, reptilian manner. The tension that Dan Gilroy notches up and up makes some of the scenes very uncomfortable to watch and there are a fair few heart thumping car chases thrown in for good measure.

This is a kind of blackly comical psychopath story which is a damning assessment of the lengths that a poorly regulated television industry will go to in order to chase ratings. Nightcrawler is a really skilful, horrifying movie with a good plot and excellent cast.