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FILM REVIEW: ‘NIGHTCRAWLER’
‘Nightcrawler’
Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Written by: Dan Gilroy
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo
Story: Desperate for work Lou Bloom forces his way into the world of filming crime scenes and will do anything to get to the top of his game.
Nightcrawler is a film which will stay with you for a while. It is one of those movies which will come to mind at random moments as you drive home from work or clean out your refrigerator. It will keep coming to mind when people ask you what movies you have seen lately or if you can recommend anything that they might enjoy. It will come to mind because of how truly disturbing it really is. The title itself elicits some sort of impression that the film will get under your skin; its utter awesomeness seeping through your pores.
Let’s get this straight right off the bat. Jake Gyllenhaal is an exceptionally talented actor. We remember films like Donnie Darko, Zodiac and Jarhead, and now understand they they have paved the way to this. Of course he has had some slips (The Day After Tomorrow comes to mind), but Nightcrawler will definitely be a performance that Gyllenhaal will find tough to follow. Watching his portrayal of socially disturbed Lou Bloom is uncomfortable: the slightest quiver of an eyelash is 100 percent in character. When you watch this you will understand unequivocally that this is the performance that people will peg Gyllenhaal’s future performances against for quite some time. He is again on point in each and every scene.
Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) compliments Gyllenhaal perfectly and brings a delicate innocence to the role of Rick. He truly does represent the human equation of their partnership and Ahmed should be proud of his efforts.
Accolades have poured in for this film, so before you dismiss it as a popcorn drama think again. Thankfully, Dan Gilroy has not gone unnoticed by critics and film associations: his screenplay unveils a disturbing truth about modern society. Indeed, Lou Bloom himself notes that he is from the ‘self-esteem movement so popular in schools’: he will do whatever it takes to succeed, because he has been told that this is what he has to do to ensure he can get a job and progress. Bloom doesn’t want to work in any particular industry, he just wants a career, and something he is good at. It is what he has been taught to do.
Nightcrawler is scary. It isn’t throw you out of your seat scary, and it isn’t scary like ’12 Years A Slave’ was scary, but it is uncomfortably scary in the sense that Lou Bloom is not a highly fictionalised character. In the world of dog-eat-dog corporate America: he is a human representation of the greed creed that generates so much lust.
The film is a black cat: it mesmerises you and draws you in through the back alleys of Los Angeles and keeps you poised so delicately until the very last second.
The Reel Junkie 