Primicia mortal

Nightcrawler from the very beginning is not a traditional Hollywood film. It certainly does not follow the narrative of one and even though it has the three-act structure we are all familiar with, it spins them around. This is particularly evident in the third act, incredibly suspenseful with a brilliant, almost anti-climax. Suspense is the main key to this film's success, it build and builds to the point where the last twenty minutes of the film are completely unpredictable. Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut here has shown a real understanding of how to keep an audience engaged and following a character who isn't an easy man to spend a great deal of time with. Gilroy's screenplay is fast paced and one of the finest this year. The script focuses the audience on the characters, Louis Bloom particularly yet the supporting characters are just as impressive by Bill Paxton and Rene Russo alike. It doesn't follow the rules of a typical script, we are introduced instantly to a criminal and this man is supposed to be our protagonist. Yet what becomes clear is that there is not a protagonist in Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal's Louis Bloom is the antagonist. He can be described as nothing less than a psychopath and his portrayal by Gyllenhaal is one of his greatest performances. He is very gaunt here, losing a lot of weight for the role, however that is not the main reason for his impressive performance. Gyllenhaal is an actor who continues to impress me; his work in Enemy from earlier this year was just as brilliant. He has chosen excellent roles in films such as Zodiac, Prisoners and End of Watch. The cinematography is also fantastic, night-time LA has not looked this good since 2011's Drive. All these elements come together to make a captivating piece of filmmaking, a film I expect will be discussed more as time goes on.

Nightcrawler seems like a satire to modern television news about how they choose their leads or often seek for more ratings by entertaining their viewers rather than aim straightly to the facts. But there is a much interesting story beneath here and that is the main character, Louis Bloom. The guy that easily manipulates people with his sinister tricks of persuasion. Everything else may just be the natural world of crime and accidents, but in the eyes of this character, the experience is made far stranger and oddly fascinating. This provides a compellingly menacing and provoking piece of commentary which results to such engrossing film.

What the plot mostly does is to fully absorb the viewers into the character of Bloom by studying his sociopathic behavior and the words coming out from his mouth. He is a charming young man with a dark intention hidden behind his grins. He pushes the limits of the law and his own safety, only to accomplish on what he must do in the job, even if it risks many people's lives. The actions of this antihero is ought to feel terrifying on how it affects to both the business he's working on and the society he is watching. The media's side however is more of a picture of cynicism on how they broadcast the scariest stories of the city, giving the people fear so they could earn more viewers out of the concern. It just breaks down on how the evil of their success is disguised as their own ethics.

The filmmaking perfectly captures their night's work. You couldn't clearly see the scenario they shoot unless you watch them on a video footage. The violence and peril they witness are shown without any hint of sympathy, since they only use them for the news show. The horror of these gritty scenes once again belongs to the nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the biggest highlights here. His character obviously has the personality of a psychotic villain; he is mostly bluffing, and by the dashing enthusiasm he shows to the people around him, you probably may not know when his inner total madness will burst out from his frightening eyeballs, and that provides more tension than you expect. This is one of the Gyllenhaal performances that will be remembered for his career.

Out of common sense, this story may lead its main character to a moral about how much he is taking this job too far, probably destroying his humanity. But no, this guy is relentless, almost inhumane, and his style in fact helps his career grow bigger, which turns out we are actually rooting for a villain. And that probably pictures to some oppressive ambitious beings out there behind some system. This is where things go in the end, bringing an outcome to a social satire. You can spot a lot of relevance even when some of the situations get a little out of hand. Nightcrawler is something else than a sentiment, what we must focus here is Lou Bloom: a new, possibly iconic, movie vigilante, except the only skin he is purposely saving is himself and his career.

Jake Gyllenhaal is the nightcrawler. A nightcrawler is a worm. Bloom, the character played here, is a sociopath. His ambitions and fixations far outweigh common morality. Let's face it, his cohorts in the business aren't much better than he is, but they have a kind of code, and they don't participate in enhancing the crime. When Bloom moves an accident victim for the first time in order to get a better shot, he crosses the line and stays on the other side. He is willing to do anything to get his way and he is a master at monotonous monologue when he is confronted. It's as if he is reading from a book. I heard an interview recently with Gyllenhaal and he recited some of this stuff from memory with almost no emotion. This is a terrific performance by one of our really good actors. The way he is able to slide into every situation unscathed and maintain that sardonic grin is really nonpareil. This is about the voyeurism of the audience which demands this hateful kind of portrayal.

Once Jake Gyllenhaal signed on to do Nightcrawler I knew it would be a special film. The man has been producing nothing but gold lately and this is no different. Nightcrawler is an experience - it takes you on this journey through the grimy streets of LA, through the corrupt minds of media moguls, and everything is told through the eyes of seemingly charming slimeball reporter Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal).

Nightcrawler works on so many levels. The writing and direction is fantastic, which is especially impressive as it's the directorial debut by Dan Gilroy who takes on both duties. He had a clear vision of how he wanted to portray LA and the sleek, brooding yet slightly lackadaisical tone transfers perfectly onto the big screen. The acting is phenomenal - Gyllenhaal gives a performance that's the polar opposite from his character in Prisoners and he was on point for every second. He was the perfect casting choice to carry the movie.

The movie has a clear message on the media and how they abuse stories and reap the benefits regardless of who gets victimized. It's a message that has been told a million times before, but never quite like this. Nightcrawler throws you right into the gritty streets along with a hustling thief, Lou, who starts freelancing as a videographer of crime scenes and selling his footage to a news channel for money. We go along this journey with Lou and watch his transformation from being a sleazy but ambitious individual to becoming a manipulative, self-serving sociopath. Then you start to realize that he was like that all along. His charming charisma masked his true intentions, and this peek into his psyche is the most potent and disturbing aspect of the movie. It's a character study that encompasses an entire lifestyle, and told with enough elegance and wit to keep you on board the whole way.

There's a dark comedic tone present throughout. Lou's persistence and crass remarks to basically anyone he encounters provide some good laughs. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, he'll talk to anyone in order to get his way, and he has a sleazy smirk that never fails to get a reaction. Also Gyllenhaal's chemistry with Rene Russo (the news director) is palatable and their work dynamic becomes more of a gripping co-dependency as the movie progresses.

Nightcrawler is a must-watch for fans of cinema. It's a work of art from a directorial and writing standpoint, from an acting standpoint, and from a basic human nature standpoint. It really does a hell of a job at sucking you into this dark gloomy world to the point where you don't want to get out. It's intense, it's funny, it's thrilling, it's powerful, and most of all, it's real. Nightcrawler is simply sensational.

I'd like to emphasize one thing that gets me with every movie this guy is in. The acting. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting never fails to impress me. He had the crazy eyes in this movie, and to be honest, it made me look away a few times. Very eerie addition to the character, love this guy. His demeanor reminded me of his role in The Guilty. The movie itself was pretty good. I hate an open ending, but I think it fits well with the theme and meaning of the actual film. It leaves u to interpret the ending and its connection to the real world. Overall, I recommend, especially if u love a mentally unstable and uncanny Gyllenhaal role.