NIGHTCRAWLER
Director: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Rating: (R16)
Four and a half stars (out of five)
Joe is a ''nightcrawler'', a freelance cameraman who cruises the Los Angeles streets looking for chaos to film and on-sell.
Joe has just given Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) an idea.
Bloom is a recluse with a penchant for petty theft and internet self-improvement. Played eerily well by Gyllenhaal, whose eyes burn with an intensity that hints at Bloom's narcissistic motivation, he becomes a modern-day Travis Bickle with a camcorder.
Showing little emotion and even less empathy, Lou stalks the streets with his employee Rick (Riz Ahmed), who is pretty much the only likeable character here.
After Bloom gets a few pointers from struggling news producer Nina (Rene Russo), he is often first on the scene, his keen eye and complete lack of ethics getting him footage no-one else is getting.
Nightcrawler is slick, brisk and very tense.
From riveting shots of cars rocketing through the neon streets to some very uncomfortable moments where Bloom reveals his payment plan to Nina, director Dan Gilroy finds a great balance between edge-of-the-seat adrenaline and intense character psychoanalysis.
For Gilroy's directorial debut, Nightcrawler is sensational, but it's Gyllenhaal who is a force of nature.
His autistic mannerisms and deadpan monologues are both chilling and disturbingly amusing.
As he breaks down every horrific crime scene into just another rung in his business plan, it's only a question of how far he is willing to go to satisfy Nina's demand for network ratings.
- Mark Orton
