To Relish In The Dark Side

Nightcrawler (2014)
A Review By Ben Hunter
5 Out Of 5 Stars

GET TO THE POINT BEN!

A dark & gloomily painted picture that you can’t help but immerse yourself within!

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He’s a very “quirky” character to put that lightly.  To say he’s procured “quite the personality” would be an understatement.  For he’s someone whose blurred the lines of morality and integrity for personal gain or satisfaction.  He will stop at nothing, to get what he wants.  He will overthrow you if it’s the last thing he does.  As he grasps knowledge and slowly becomes a master with such information, it’s only a matter of time before you realize you’ve been simply punk’d, bettered in oblivious defeat, or downright outdone … and you didn’t even see it coming.  Probably because of his light-hearted manner is why you were inattentive then to now feeling that you’ve found yourself within SUCH A DARK AND TWISTED tale of sorts with:  none other than Lou Bloom … The Nightcrawler!

Lou (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a common thief trying to make money in Los Angeles.  One day he witnesses an accident on the interstate as camera crews, police, medical attention, and news outlets swarm the scene.  The first people on the scene (headed by Bill Paxton) film the incident and then head out quickly as they receive a call of the next accident, all while negotiating the price the news station wants for the footage they’ve just captured.  This is all in front of Lou, discovering this world of “nightcrawling”, who then gets his own camera from a pawned bike that he stole, and slowly starts his own company from this new information he’s received.  This sets the ball in motion.  Rolling into a world of deceit, lies, sex, dirty money, dishonor, lack of integrity and questionable behavior to question the very morals set in motion in your own heart.  Prepare for the somber world of Nightcrawler!  It’ll be a gloomy experience, but it’ll be an intense and engaging ride all the way through, leaving you startled yet amazed at how much it drew you in!

Boy oh boy oh boy!  Jake Gyllenhaal has outdone himself!  The first bit of info I tell people inquiring about this film is, “that monologue he did at the end!”  His sister Maggie stated in a red carpet interview how this character is so rooted in reality.  I couldn’t agree more.  Lou talks differently, but it’s common everyday vernacular.  So it just had me thinking, “Oh, he’s of that dorky, geeky kind of persona”.  But with such foggy roots of character, it makes Lou a very complex and fascinating one that when contemplating all this about him, I realized just how very jarring his vernacular was.  It all tied into the gloomy atmosphere that the story portrayed.  The literal imagery of Los Angeles at night as well as James Newton Howard’s enthralling score all cooperated in painting this picture of a dark world that I couldn’t help but fully immerse myself within.  I forgot all about “that girl” that upset me before the movie started. 

This was a nice insight into the world of newsrooms.  Older yet still beautiful Rene Russo contributed nicely to this and I loved all of her screen time, every minute.   Everyone played their part nicely and it had me thinking as I live in Los Angeles and these are a lot of the same places I frequent.  More evidence that this film stayed with me long after it was over, thinking about it and all the moral questioning, thrilling dialogue stating, and brilliant storytelling that it entails! 

Nightcrawler
Crime Thriller, 117 Minutes, R
Written & Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed

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