Review: Nightcrawler

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a scavenger/thief who, although socially awkward, has boundless ambition and a motor-mouth. One night he spots an opportunistic freelance TV cameraman (Bill Paxton) doing his thing and cashing in big selling the footage, and a lightbulb goes off in Louis’ head. He buys himself a police scanner and a video camera, and he’s off and running. At first he runs into some trouble for getting in the way of crime/accident scenes and stepping on the toes of the more ‘legitimate’ camera people. But Louis is as persistent as he is ambitious, and eventually he happens upon some juicy footage that no one else has gotten to yet (sometimes before the cops even get there, I might add), taking it to struggling TV news head Nina (Rene Russo). He tries to ingratiate himself into a permanent gig selling footage for her, whilst he also becomes bolder and more unscrupulous in his methods of getting the best footage (And also bolder in his demands of Nina). He also takes on an assistant in young homeless man Rick (Riz Ahmed), who gets thrown into the deep end right away. Just how far is Louis willing to go to get a juicy piece of footage? Far enough that the cops start sniffing around, disapproving of what he’s doing. Possibly even further, though. This guy has no empathy, conscience, or moral compass. That’s not in his intense focus.

 

An excellent directorial debut by writer Dan Gilroy (“Two for the Money”, “The Bourne Legacy”), this sleazy but compelling film from 2014 has echoes of “Taxi Driver”, “15 Minutes”, “Network”, and even “The King of Comedy”. I wouldn’t call the film a comedy or a satire, but there’s some very, very dark humour going on here. I mean the film pretty much focuses on the scummy side of the TMZ/amateur video era of immediate, sensational news footage (that the majority of us have a fascination with, it’s important to remember- guilty as charged right here!), and its chief protagonist is basically a bottom-feeding, amoral sociopath who finds himself a potential career plan out of this era of uncomfortably up-close and exploitative news footage. Ouch. There’s definitely some Travis Bickle in the character of Louis Bloom here, except instead of uprising against the scummy streets, this opportunistic creep grabs a camera and tries to make a living out of shooting the scum and the misery.

 

A seriously zonked-out, almost Nic Cage-like (but with the gift of restraint) Jake Gyllenhaal was clearly robbed of an Oscar nomination here. He uses all of his usual qualities and mannerisms…but for the forces of darkness here. This guy is way too excited, eager, and ruthless. The guy is really sleazy, anti-social and creepy. In Nic Cage’s hands, this creep would be buggin’ out and eating cockroaches, Gyllenhaal keeps it in check. Subtle he isn’t, but he grounds this guy in uncomfortable reality somewhere between Asperger’s and near-serial killer personality. I mean, if Louis weren’t so awkward and nerdy, he might indeed have turned into Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver” and shooting holes in people’s stomachs. He’s scarily and uncomfortably real, in his best performance since “Donnie Darko”. He gives us a guy who is intensely focussed and driven, but completely soulless. Unnervingly so. The film could’ve easily been called “Skincrawler”, as Gilroy and Gyllenhaal go all-out in showing just how far Bloom is willing to go to get that perfect news footage. He’ll sell anyone out and then some. Meanwhile, Bill Paxton hasn’t been this sleazy since he played a schmuck used car salesman in “True Lies”, only this time he’s not going for laughs. The guy he plays is the textbook definition of bottom-feeder, and Paxton (one of the more versatile actors of the last 30 years or so) is perfectly cast. Rene Russo (who is married to the writer-director, but is a highly underrated and too-rarely seen actress in my view) gives her best performance since what, 1993? Playing a slight, downscale variant on the soulless bitch TV exec Faye Dunaway perfected in “Network”, Russo’s much, much better here than she was in the more comedic (but unfunny) “Showtime” in another TV producer role. Take notice, Hollywood, and give her more roles, damn it. Riz Ahmed makes a strong, sympathetic impression too, in support. You’ll worry about this poor kid, who is only taking the job because he’s desperate and now he’s stuck with this bottom-feeding creep for a boss. Special mention must go to cinematographer Robert Elswit (“Magnolia”, “Good Night and Good Luck”, “The Town”) for some superb low-level lighting. It’s really effective and instead of giving us just one colour, we get lots of colours.

 

Aside from one or two moments where Bloom interferes with crime scenes that strain credibility a tad, this is uncomfortably real. Bloom might be a tad too amoral for some to believe, but he’s not the only one Gilroy is blasting here. He’s pointing the finger at the media, and yes, at you and me too. It hits pretty close to the bone, I think, and at the very least it’ll give you pause next time you see some amateur/freelance news footage and wonder who shot it. Or perhaps it’s best not to even think about it. You’ll want to take about twenty showers after this film, but it’s so well done, certainly better than “15 Minutes”. Powerful stuff. Just be thankful this guy turned to a video camera and not a gun or a knife!

 

Rating: B