Nightcrawler

The more psychotic roles Jake Gyllenhaal plays, the more we want. I guess the sort of sociopathic mind-troubling role has Jake Gyllenhaal’s name written on them. 

Like some of Gyllenhaal’s famous roles such as Donnie Darko and The Good Girl, he takes Nightcrawler’s character to the next level.

Lou Bloom is mysterious from the second you meet him to the last second of the entire movie. Lou Bloom is a determined yet sociopathic man trying to make something of himself, when he experiences first hand of the journalism thrill scenes of accidents and crime scenes throughout Los Angeles, a nightcrawler. If it bleeds, it leads, literally is what Bloom stands for. Bloom is the perfect sociopath. He’s extremely street smart and studies an unknown amount of information online and uses it to convey a persona within a conversation. It’s clear he lacks empathy from the way he speaks in conversations, but uses it to get his ruthless ways. He’s convincing, but in an annoying teacher-lecture type of way. 

Film Independent's Forum - Wire Image 

Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut and another Gyllenhaal’s chilling-psychotic roles has the audience feeling all sorts of mixed questions about what kind of genre they’re watching. I thought this was a crime fiction, thriller, and drama movie, but it’s more comedic than you’d think. Mostly Lou Bloom’s character is what brings an audience to laugh, feel scared, and sometimes don’t really know what to feel. There’s nothing funny about a disturbed young man, but the eminent screen writing skills to create a striking character was a success. 

The sub-charters in the movie also add to Nightcrawler’s exposition of the social issues like media exploitation for entertainment. Lou Bloom is someone who climbs his way up into a corrupt system that awards him for his “bloody” deeds. At one point Bloom even drags a bloody body onto a different side of the car to have a more cinematic and better looking view of the accident. Nina played by Renee Russo, is the TV news producer who demands blood scenes and already has placed in mind the “crime scenes creeping into the suburbs” concept she wants to make into the next news frenzy. She is wiling to have sex with Lou Bloom to keep their business relationship because she needs his footage to keep her job. Her news cast is described as "a screaming women running down the street with her throat cut". Their relationship is odd and detached throughout the movie.

Lou Bloom hires an “intern” named Rick, who just wants to make some money. Rick is a character is seemingly dumb, but is someone who has empathy and is probably one of the only characters who feel human. The juxtaposition yet continuously overlapping relationship between the sub-characters makes up the metaphor of the entertainment industry. 

Nightcrawler is THE movie to watch for. The story of a disturbing young man in the nighttime of Los Angeles will have you on the edge of your seat. Curious and eye-hungry for compassion and a way to know who the real Lou Bloom is. Gyllenhaal's flesh crawling performance will have you entertained. 

Watch the trailer...