Review of Nightcrawler (2014) by Ronin810 — 06 Dec 2014

Penned and directed by Dan Gilroy, a first time director, though known for the scripts of “Real Steel” and “The Bourne Legacy”, “Nightcrawler” delivers one of the best cinematic surprises of the year, mostly due to its chameleonic star, Jake Gyllenhaal.

In short, “Nightcrawler” centers on Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal), a creepy but extremely driven individual who’s desperate to find a job. After multiple rejections, Bloom, a keen observer, becomes involved by chance in the dark world of L.A. night crime “journalism” and discovers not only that he is fascinated by this sheer cirque du freak a.k.a. media, but also that he is very good at catching glimpses of human decadence and moral decay.

Persistent and insidious by nature, Bloom crawls under the skin of an ethically challenged TV producer, Nina, played by Rene Russo, desperate to prove herself on top of her game. Their professional relationship quickly turns from a win-win situation into a personal and intimate (although the viewer never gets a direct proof in this respect, but only a couple of visual hints) power struggle, easily won by a scheming Bloom. And this is where Gilroy shows his masterful directing eye through clean cut close-ups and narrow camera angles that manage to catch the characters’ body language and facial expressions: a sneaky reptilian Bloom and an arrogant feline like Nina – both creatures of the night.

Bloom is not at all a sociopath as he might come across at a first glance. He is just a striver, an over-achiever who lacks any kind of conscience or feelings and is willing to literary step on dead bodies and who is not so different from any climber on the corporate or social ladder. He’s manipulative and a very good salesman, not bound by any moral constraints and thus, anyone who comes into contact with him becomes an instant prey. Bloom is a by-product of today’s society that tries to spit him out at first, only to become his playground later, and to a certain extent he is the embodiment of the American dream.

“Nightcrawler” is an obvious satire, but it never preaches or moralizes. It observes through a lens and lets the viewer grasp whatever he will out of this contorted monster.

Gilroy knows how to build up tension and keep up the suspense by alternating quiet wide shots with fast paced action scenes. His directorial debut is reminiscent of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” and “Only God Forgives”, a sort of a “neon cinema” product that casts a spell on the viewer through its raw lawlessness and haunting soundtrack. But unlike Ryan Gosling in “Drive”, Gilroy’s Bloom is an anti-hero that you loathe from the first frame (maybe except for the few times when you see him carefully wetting the only sign of life in his shadowy spartan apartment – a plant). Jake Gyllenhaal is annoyingly fascinating in his creation of Bloom and the movie’s brilliance is largely due to his Oscar worthy performance. With wide bulging eyes and a head that seems almost too big for his skinny and slightly gibbous frame, Gyllenhaal shows how much he immersed himself into the creepy crawling Bloom. Gyllenhaal seems poised to win his first Oscar nomination for a lead role with “Nightcrawler”, but even if that doesn’t happen he sure managed to hone one of the most despicable yet memorable cinematic anti-heroes in recent years.

“Nightcrawler” is a must-seen, definitely worth the ticket money and your attention, especially for the haunting intensity of Gyllenhaal’s performance.