READERS' CHOICE #45: NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once

BEST SEQUENCE

The climax is really intense with some dark action, big plot moments, and a gripping car chase. But I'm going with the scene in which Lou (Jake Gyllenhaal) enters a house where a triple homicide just occurred minutes ago, shortly after the perpetrators escaped. As he films extremely graphic footage of the bodies to sell to Nina (Rene Russo), a local news director, we feel like co-conspirators with Lou, despite the moral repugnance of his actions. This also leads directly into another one of my favourite scenes in which Nina airs Lou's footage on live TV and we watch her in the control booth directing her newscasters, making them emphasize the disturbing nature of what she's putting on screen, and milking the sensationalism for all it's worth.

BEST LINE

Lou has lots of great lines, and I loved the dark comedy whenever he'd spout his corporate speak or inspirational aphorisms. My favourite comes when he's trying to coerce his assistant, Rick (Riz Ahmed), into doing something extremely dangerous, and Rick knows it.

Rick: "I don't believe anything you say, man, this is fucked!"

Lou (admonishing him): "Do you know I've never once sworn in front of an employer?"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

95%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Restless, visually sleek, and powered by a lithe star performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler offers dark, thought-provoking thrills."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story."

THOUGHTS

• I love Gyllenhaal's performance as Lou, and you know what? In a way, a very weird way, I find this absolutely deplorable character kind of likeable. But likeable in the least obvious way possible. In his very first scene he's larcenous and violent, and that's just where the movie begins; one can only imagine what crimes he'd already committed before that point. And his actions throughout the movie just keep getting increasingly indefensible, but despite this, it doesn't really feel like he ever makes a conscious choice to drop his morals. I get the sense that, at every point in the movie, Lou was entirely capable and willing to do any of the terrible things we witness. We see no crisis of conscience from him. We just see a man who takes advantage of a series of opportunities to get rid of an obstacle or improve his situation. He's a pragmatic fellow who just wants to succeed in his chosen line of work
• And what a horrible line of work it is
• It feels like the movie itself also has reluctant admiration for Lou in the same way I do. Earlier on, during some of the scenes when he's doing whatever it takes to get the perfect footage, the music is triumphant and upbeat
• Another very small character moment I like is when Lou is ironing his shirts and watching The Court Jester, an old Danny Kaye comedy from 1955 which I remember watching as a kid, and this monstrous guy is having a grand old time, laughing at this cheesy old comedy. I don't even really know what it's intended to mean, there's something performative about his laughter even though he's alone in the room, but it stuck with me
• The nighttime cinematography is gorgeous at points, eerie at others. I liked the way Lou was often shown with light reflecting off of his huge, unblinking eyes. I also noticed that when he was skulking around where he shouldn't be he would hold his video camera like a gun (although hey, I'm no expert, maybe that's just how you hold a camera; still looks like a gun!)
• Aside from Gyllenhaal, all the other performances are great across the board, and it's a really excellent movie. Highly recommended!

Up next: Aside from this sentence right now, I promise that recent events will not be mentioned in the next review - it's Independence Day!