Nightcrawler - Review
This review of Nightcrawler is spoiler-free!
Jake Gyllenhaal has had one hell of a career over the years, hasn't he? Sometimes I think he is a bit of a forgotten talent in the landscape of Hollywood, but when you think about the roles he has had, he really isn't. For example, we have films like Prisoners, Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead, and End of Watch. He doesn't truly have a role that he really follows specifically like some other actors do. He has the power of range in his acting that makes him worth it for almost any role he is put in. The rumors of Gyllenhaal taking over the role of Batman excitement as it feels like this would be the moment he truly gets remembered and acknowledged by audiences across the globe. But, today we are talking about another one of his better roles: Nightcrawler. Well, I believe that's enough background about Gyllenhaal, let's jump into it!
We start Nightcrawler with Louis Bloom, a man who is scavenging and stealing to just get by every day. Eventually, he stumbles upon two men arriving at the scene of a horrific car crash, and are filming it. He discovers they go by the name of nightcrawlers, filming footage to sell to the highest bidder, in this case, they are selling to news networks to headline stories. From here, Louis ends up getting a camcorder and police scanner. You can see where this goes, and eventually, he comes into conflict with the other nightcrawlers and begins to take more and more steps into the dark, making his films that much more real and terrifying for viewers. So, Nightcrawler is as much of a mixture of a thriller and lite horror film that you can get. I loved the execution of the story more than a lot of critics did at the time of release. Great work from nearly everyone involved in Nightcrawler's story.
Gyllenhaal's performance as the main character of Louis Bloom is remarkable in any sense. Sometimes I find it hard to really lock into a character that is slimy or disgusting. Like I stated from the beginning though, Gyllenhaal has the ability to tap into all different styles of roles and create a character that is believable. You can just feel the sociopath exuding from Bloom and that the man actually enjoys being a creep. Some of Gyllenhaal's best work of his career and it manages to actually elevate the movie as a whole.
Gyllenhaal's eventual partner Rick (played by Riz Ahmed) is a great addition as he helps to counter Bloom's psychopathic ways. Where Bloom sees opportunity, Rick sees a chance at going too far. This leads to disagreements and eventual all-out disputes between the two of them. Ahmed plays the character well, but I can't help but feel many other actors could have done just as well in the role. For the one character though that I really was left a bit on the fence about though, I look at Rene Russo's Nina. For me, her character felt a bit out of the fit of the film, switching emotions a bit too quickly and being ok with everything that Bloom did a bit too easily. I understand the reasoning for this trait in the character, as she views the videos as a means to get viewers, but doesn't think at all about the true human element and unlawful matter of their use like someone in her position really would. So like anyone would expect, Gyllenhaal's bloom is the star of the show.
Nightcrawler to me is an excellent film because it shines a light on the changing tide of news and overall media consumption around the world. Taking things to what could be considered drastic levels, we end up with a film that shows just how far media and people will go to get clicks and viewership. For me, this is what makes Nightcrawler such a smart film in a sense. For the normal viewer, you just see a film about a creepy young man with a dream to turn this awful hobby into a lifelong career. In today's society, there are so many different people who choose to exaggerate the world around them just to get more popularity for whatever they're doing. This is a film that has a message and a tone and executes them to a T.
For films that focus on a specific topic, Nightcrawler is a stellar addition to this grouping. Gyllenhaal's performance could be considered by many a career-changing performance, but when you realize that he has had this many performances on this level, it really just is what is to expect from him. I won't go to the level of saying that this is a film that deserves awards, but you have to realize that something like Nightcrawler is unique for what it does for its audiences, not necessarily the film critics of the world. It sends that message to over-exaggeration and makes the viewers think. For those of you who are tired of a world filled with false headlines and ridiculous stories, give Nightcrawler a chance to see just how far things could go.
