This one has been on my to-do list for a very long time and I'm ecstatic to review it. I must admit that I'd seen this one once before when it first came out, however I didn't remember anything about it. With a bit of trepidation, I went into this with lowered expectations (especially after the lasttwo films I reviewed), however my doubts were quashed well before the first act came to a close.
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Where You Can Find It: I saw this on Amazon Video where it is available for rent/purchase.
General Information Nightcrawler is a neo-noir thriller that was released on 31 October 2014. It was written and directed by Dan Gilroy and serves as Gilroy's directorial debut. Robert Elswit provided the cinematography with James Newton Howard composing. It was produced under Bold Films and distributed by Open Road Films. Financially, it was a fairly significant success by accruing around $47 million at the box office with a budget of approximately $8.5 million. Critically, it was an absolute darling, as it accrued several nominations and awards from various outlets to include a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. It holds a 76 Metascore on Metacritic and an impressive 95% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Story
Louis "Lou" Bloom (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is a small-time thief and sociopath looking for a way to make money when he comes across the site of a horrible car crash and discovers there is money to be made as a stringer (someone who records footage and then sells it). After trying his own hand at filming local atrocities, Louis meets a news manager for KWLA 6, Nina Romina (Rene Russo), who increasingly encourages him to take bolder risks in getting valuable footage. Louis employs a desperate and unemployed laborer named Rick (Riz Ahmed) and quickly begins his ascension through the violent Los Angeles streets.
The entirety of the plot surrounds Louis and is ostensibly a masterpiece in characterization. Louis is not a good person, nor is he particularly sympathetic. Louis lacks any empathy as a human being, and it's fascinating to see him develop into his new occupation. Every verbal exchange and observation he makes is stored away and later used when it suits his purposes. There's a veneer of civility about the man due to his excessively polite mannerisms and corporate jargon, however this is all merely a smokescreen to hide his own motives. In a way, Louis reminds me a great deal of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman as neither of the two grasp any understanding of humanity; however, Louis derives pleasure from success as opposed to inflicting harm (although he certainly has no issue performing the latter). Entire essays could be written on Louis Bloom, and I would encourage viewers to pay particular attention to exactly what he sees and hears as the story progresses as that later reflects his own thought process and actions in the third act.
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Louis may seem nice, but there's something seriously wrong with the guy
Going into this film, I had assumed that the narrative would be an excoriation of the news media, however it cleverly goes beyond that and actually serves as an indictment on its own audience. As a viewer, I found Louis and his story to be wholly repulsive; however, I couldn't look away. Louis thrives in the environment in which he finds himself because people will pay time and money to watch the things he records. This hardly excuses his (or Nina's) actions, but they are merely the byproducts of our own morbid curiosity. Like Louis in the opening scenes of this film, we too are just as likely to stop in traffic to peek at a horrible accident.
Special Effects/Atmosphere
For a film about what is essentially a cameraman, I went into this expecting some great cinematography, and I certainly got that. There's a brilliant bit of framing throughout this film that emphasizes Louis' interactions with his world. There are several scenes that I can point to as examples (without spoiling anything), but I'll discuss one. The scene is early on when Louis hires his assistant Rick. Through most of the conversation, the two have separate frames when they speak; however, take note of when the two begin to agree to work together. The two begin to speak within the same frame. When there's a disagreement about pay and Rick begins to back out, the frame resets to separating the two again. Only once Louis changes Rick's mind does the camera re-frame the two again.
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Note when the camera perspective changes as the conversation continues
Another brilliant bit of cinematography is used to convey how Louis improves in his own camerawork. Initially, the audience rarely sees the film through Louis' footage; however, by the third act Louis has improved to a degree in which we are now viewing the film through his own lens. It's an amazing way of demonstrating character development that I don't believe I've ever seen used before.
James Newton Howard presents a particularly intriguing composition in this that speaks to how Gilroy views this story as opposed to how most audiences probably would. While the majority of us would arguably view Louis' rise as chilling, Gilroy has previously stated that he views the story as a "success story," which is emphasized by Howard's music featured in the background. When Louis is possibly at his worst, an almost victorious-soaring score fills the background to reflect Louis' ascension. If a different composer (with a different direction) had scored this, it might have reflected as the horror story it ostensibly is.
The Acting
Even years after the film's release, the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Louis Bloom remains particularly controversial. Gyllenhaal is superb in his role and effectively conveys the unsettling nature of his character without even doing much. By losing around twenty pounds for the role, Gyllenhaal presents a gaunt, bug-eyed protagonist that is alien in both appearance and behavior. It's uncomfortable simply watching Louis exist as everything from his gait to his smile seems unnatural.
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Gyllenhaal is horrifically mesmerizing as the sociopathic Louis Bloom
Another fascinating element is how Gyllenhaal interacts with the rest of the cast. It's fascinating to see how performers in authority positions like Rene Russo and Joe Loder's Bill Paxton initially regard Louis with an almost dismissive air, which jarringly changes as the plot develops. The dinner scene between Russo's Nina and Gyllenhaal's Louis is an excellent performance in and of itself with both players clearly bringing their A-game. Likewise, Riz Ahmed is great as the frequently in-over-his-head Rick who is one of the few characters that Gyllenhaal's Louis actually looks down upon.
The Best of the Best: Jake Gyllenhaal's chilling performance as Louis Bloom.
The Worst of the Worst: Rick's nightly salary.
Calhooey Score: 9/10 - Fantastic
Would I Recommend?
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Stay tuned!
Nightcrawler is a fascinating character study that presents the audience with a thoroughly detestable protagonist and subtly criticizes our own morbid curiosity as we watch. This is arguably one of the best films to come out of the 2010s and I highly recommend this to anyone that hasn't seen it. This is an absolute must-see for neo-noir fans that enjoyed films like Collateral and/or Drive.
It's fairly chilling in how the film opens up with Louis attacking the security guard. I thought it was a great way for Gilroy to show the audience what Louis is capable of.
That whole dinner scene between Louis and Nina was incredibly unsettling. What a way to proposition someone...
Notice when and how Louis lets people call him by the variations of his name. For those Louis considers to be a threat or who may have something he wants (like the police or Nina), he would ask them to informally call him "Lou." For those he deemed to be less significant (like Rick), he would demand to be called "Louis."
Someone else pointed out something that I thought was really interesting about Louis and lighting. Note that Louis almost always wears sunglasses during the daytime unless he's indoors. We don't get too many day-time shots, but it's pretty clear that Louis (like the title's namesake) prefers the dark.
Rick makes some pretty good observations throughout this film. For arguably the most uneducated character of the story, he's the only one that eventually sees Louis for what he really is.
Also, a red muscle car really does stand out.
That part where Nina is told that the home invasion was tied to the fact that the homeowners were involved in narcotics trafficking was pretty telling about journalism these days. Who needs details, when you've got headlines and splashy visuals?
I'm curious if Louis is capable of original thought. Even at the very end of the film, he merely copied Joe's plan to have two vans to cover twice as much news.
I wonder if Louis' new employees ever get curious about what happened to the person they replaced.
(3) Trista300. (2015, March 3). Nightcrawler - Job Interview Scene [video]. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHha67jRJA4.
(4) Lewis, H. (2014, August 21). Gyllenhaal as Louis image. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/new-nightcrawler-trailer-puts-jake-726804/.
(5) dbfix. (n.d.). Louis pointing image. Retrieved from: https://www.dbfix.
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