Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Nightcrawler


Directed by Dan Gilroy.

2014. Rated R, 117 minutes.
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Rene Russo
Riz Ahmed
Bill Paxton
Ann Cusack
Kevin Rahm
Kathleen York

When we first meet Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal), he is stealing a fence. No, I don't mean that he's a fence for stolen goods. He is actually stealing a chain-link fence. He then tries to hustle the guy he's selling it to. On the way home, he comes across a car accident, meets a guy who runs a freelance film crew and sells footage to the various local news programs. Lou is suddenly inspired to do the same. He gets the money for a camera by stealing a racing bicycle and off he goes. He manages to sell the first thing he shoots to Nina (Russo), news director at one of those local stations. With that bit of encouragement, he hires the unsuspecting Rick (Ahmed) to be his assistant and dives into the business with both feet. This is all fine and dandy except for one thing: Lou is completely unethical. In fact, I don't think he knows the meaning of the word 'ethics.'

Having a thoroughly unlikable person as your main character is a tough sell. Normally, this is done by making that person an antihero. Nightcrawler seems to dispense with that notion, early. Instead, it makes Lou as slimy as possible without an ounce of regret. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role in a manner that makes us truly hate him. The wild-eyed look on his face for the entirety of the film is a perfect veneer for this person. There is never a moment during the film when we don't feel like this guy just ain't right. It's an expert-level performance by an actor at the top of his game.


There are other excellent performances in Nightcrawler. Rene Russo is particularly good as a person who thinks they're in control of a situation until they suddenly figure out they are not. Bill Paxton was also good as Joe Loder, a competitor of Lou's. However, Gyllenhaal's true co-star is the screenplay written by Dan Gilroy, who also handles directing duties. It's not afraid of making Lou a thoroughly despicable person. We spend the movie searching for a redeeming quality within him. At every turn we are disappointed. More than that, we are consistently mortified. Just when we think Lou couldn't possibly be any scummier, he does something that makes our mouths drop open. The outcome of all this is a darkly humorous critique on our escalating love affair with sensationalism. It also speaks to the lengths local news shows have to go to in order to be competitive in a world where the internet provides the world its main source of news and even 24 hour news stations are struggling to keep up. An ending that's as shocking for what it isn't as for what it is epitomizes an entire movie shrugging its shoulders while letting us know that's just how it is.

I've been told I'm a cynic on a few occasions. If you hear something often enough, you start to believe it, even if it's about yourself. During my periodic self-assessments I've accepted the cynic label as fair criticism. I do have hope for my fellow man, but it's shaky. I watched Nightcrawler with that perpetually swimming around the back of my head. When the final credits rolled, I realized my outlook on the world is rather sunny. Sunny is a relative term, of course. I may not have the most faith in the way humanity works, but THIS MOVIE is truly cynical. That doesn't make it a bad movie. It's quite the opposite, actually. Just don't look to feel good about the world when it's over.


14 comments:

  1. Definitely a film that got overlooked during awards season. Gyllenhaal's character was fucking despicable yet I was intrigued by how driven he is. It's definitely a great performance.

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    1. He was nothing, if not compelling. That's what made it so fun to watch.

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  2. This was one of those movies I never wanted to end. Like...it's not the best movie of last year, but it's that creation of character by Gyllenhaal that completely OWNS this film and makes this movie one that gets under your skin and stays there. I wanted to spend another hour with Lou...get inside his mind...stay in his world. He's deplorable, sure, but so unapologeticly so that he's, without a doubt, wholly interesting.

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    1. Absolutely. The dude is creepy to the nth degree, yet you can't get enough of him.

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  3. I thought this was one of the best films of 2014. Gilroy did a fantastic job. This is a great film noir flick up there with 'Drive.' The ending car chase was very well done. I'm not sure if I felt the movie was cynical or a critique of the 24 hour news cycle. I totally agree about Gyllenhaal's performance. He was brilliant. The weight loss made his eyes particularly bug like. The only word I can think of is creepy. Lou Bloom was just creepy and Jake pulled it off. Rene did some good work here too. It's sad that in order for Rene to get a role like this, her husband has to direct the film. Hollywood is not kind to actresses in their 50s.

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    1. I think it was both creepy and a critique of that news cycle. Had no idea Gilroy was Russo's husband. That explains the missing, but sure to be uncomfortable sex scene that was only alluded to.

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  4. I tried watching this one once on Netflix, but ended up getting bored and shutting it off and it's bothered me ever since. I still can't seem to figure out what it was everyone saw in this film that I didn't. I couldn't get into Lou as a character and there didn't seem to be much of a plot beyond him going around videotaping crime scenes. I really wanted to like Nightcrawler, but I just could not for the life of me figure out why people enjoyed this film. It was weird. Then again I do have some more... unusual criticisms of it so maybe I'm just crazy.

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    1. I think our interests in the film starts and ends with Lou. If he's not enough to pull you in, you'll never care about any of it. If he is, you'll be on the edge of your seat.

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  5. Matt and I got to watch this together at work, with the lights out. Creepy stuff. Hardly wanted it to be over, but then our post-movie discussion had a longer running time than the movie!

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    1. I can definitely see that. There is a good deal to chew on with this one.

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  6. Gyllenhaal is electrifying in this movie and his performance reminded me of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. It's also one of the best character-driven dramas I've seen in a long time.

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    1. Electrifying is right! I got the Taxi Driver vibe more from the setup of the movie than from Glyllenhaal himself. For me, there is a major difference between the characters that kept me from feeling that way. Travis Bickle (DeNiro in Taxi Driver) thinks of himself as an upstanding citizen. In all situations, he believes he is doing the right thing. Lou Bloom, on the other hand, has no such misconceptions about himself. He seems to fully understand that he is a bad guy. Either way, we both love it.

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  7. Dell, I took my wife to this one and we were riveted the entire time. I don't really care about awards anymore, but they should have given JG something for this one. Like, a lot of somethings. Few characters have ever made me feel so delightfully uncomfortable as Lou Bloom did. I couldn't take my eyes off him (not that I would either, the prick).

    Great post. I think I gotta watch this one again.

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    1. JG was awesome, here. I wouldn't take my eyes off Liu Bloom, either. Ever.

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