NIGHTCRAWLER

In Nightcrawler, we follow low life Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal). He is a restless figure who wants to step it up a bit, and so sets his sights on becoming the best nightcrawler there is( For those not in the know, a nightcrawler is a person who roams the streets at night, scanning police radios so they can arrive at crime scenes before anyone else and thusly catch some hopefully great footage that they can then sell to news stations). Along the way he has has to deal with rivals (Bill Paxton), a poorly motivated employee (Riz Ahmed), and a head of a news station (Rene Russo).

Jake Gyllenhaal shines as the greasy, oily, slick, and smart Louis. This is unlike any other role we have seen him tackle so far, and he does so with an energy and enthusiasm that is thrilling. It is uncomfortable to watch him here, I felt like I didn't want to even touch the guy but I couldn't keep my eyes off him. Gyllenhaal's Louis is a POS who will do anything to get ahead of the game, and he seems to be an expert liar and manipulator. There seems to be something off about him as well, like he may have some form of Aspergers....or maybe he "just doesn't like people", as he quips in a scene. Either way, it is a thrill to follow this character down into some extremely dark depths and get to watch just how deep and far he will go to get on top (and the deeper he goes, the higher up the rungs of the ladder he climbs). I'd say this is easily Gyllenhaal's best role to date, he plays against type and clearly relishes the chance to do so. I'm hoping he gets a nomination for his performance here, he deserves it. I'm going to say that this is my favorite performance of the year thus far.

The supporting cast is pretty strong as well. Riz Ahmed is entertaining and likable as Rick, an impoverished man who Louis hires as his assistant. Riz gets to play not only a sane voice, but almost acts as an audience stand in at times. Rene Russo is pretty great as Nina, the head of a news outlet that Louis is working with. Like Louis, she doesn't have many morals and encourages him throughout the film. Bill Paxton also makes an appearance as Joe Loder, a seedy rival of Louis'. Like always, Paxton makes something out of what is essentially nothing, crafting a character that is fun to spend a few minutes with here or there (plus, I found it entertaining to hear Paxton use the term 'brah"repeatedly).

The cinematography in Nightcrawler is absolutely gorgeous (props to Robert Elswit, who was in charge of cinematography for the film). The film opens with various shots of a gorgeous Los Angeles at night, and while most of the film takes place in really dirty, seedy, "bad" areas Nightcrawler always looks shiny, polished and clean (I would compare the cinematography to Drive's). The script is also surprisingly superb and well written. Nightcrawler is directed by first timer Dan Gilroy (who also wrote the script for the film), but you honestly wouldn't be able to tell. The film is pretty well paced, and while it's running time is just three minutes shy of two hours, I was so caught up in the film that the time really flew by. There were no parts that dragged, except for maybe the last 5 minutes or so. Right when you start to feel how long this film is, it wraps everything up.

I honestly can't think of a single problem I had with Nightcrawler. It manages to be a behind the scenes portrait of how news rooms work, a fascinating character study of Gyllenhaal's Louis, and an enthralling trip down a dark rabbit hole.  It is an incredibly dark film, and I left the theater feeling dirty (like I needed a shower) but I still loved the hell out of it. Nightcrawler's dark subject matter and POS protagonist may be a turn off for some, but it did the trick for me! When all is said and done, Nightcrawler is a gorgeous, brilliant film that easily emerges as one of the top films of 2014. I'd say it's definitely a must see.

5 STARS