Nightcrawler

Written by Dan Gilroy (Bourne Legacy, Real Steel), Nightcrawler, also happens to be his first attempt as a director.  And for a first attempt, Gilroy has done a pretty good job.  It isn’t perfect by a mile but Nightcrawler is the dark horse for this week.  Not too many people may pick it for the weekend but I would strongly advise that you give it a shot.  You may not regret it.

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) looks and behaves like your everyday nerd.  A geek.  A loser who doesn’t quite know what he wants to do with his life.  He steals cables and scrap metal from around the city and sells it at throwaway values to local yards.  Of course, he cannot be employed by any of them because he is a “thief".

On one such night, Bloom encounters an accident on the freeway that marks his first experience with a “Nightcrawler”; freelancers who run around the city with a police radio tracking blood and gore in an attempt to capture them on camera and sell the product to local news stations who thrive on this crap.

To Bloom it is love at first sight and over time it becomes an obsession.  An obsession to not just be the first on site but also do anything and everything that it takes to be the best Nightcrawler out there.  He finds a regular buyer in Nina Romina (Rene Russo) an almost down and out producer at one of the lagging newstations – KWLA.

Nightcrawler is Jake Gyllenhaal’s moment of truth.  This is the best that I have seen Gyllenhaal ever.  He has lost weight.  He has probably studied borderline sociopaths.  This has to be method acting at its best.  There is no way an actor can pull off something this real if he hasn’t lived the character for a long long time.

Other than Gyllenhaal, the story is slightly off the beaten path.  It is about a profession that most of us may not even consider over time and has not been spoken about either.  It is a story that is worth talking about for certain.  It is cinema like Nightcrawler that should be screened in festivals because it gives people a reason to believe in off-beat cinema.

As mentioned earlier, it is far from perfect.  But it is a tight narrative and is kept to under 2 hours.  The gore is restricted to just the right amount. The support cast is strong with Rene Russo and Bill Paxton along with Riz Ahmed who plays Rick (Bloom’s Assistant).  Definitely not mainstream.  But it must be part of your weekend.  7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3481250841/?ref_=tt_ov_vi