NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Running Length: 1:57

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Renee Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton

Director: Dan Gilroy 

 

Sociopath: A person with a psychopathic personality whose behaviour is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

Although advertised as a thriller, NIGHTCRAWLER is actually a character study of a sociopath. In the beginning, we are introduced to our main character's initial "career" - carrying out petty activities. And when confronted, what happened thereafter will give the audience a clue who we are dealing with because as the film progresses, our anti-hero gets much worse. This isn't a feel good movie. It's dark, cynical, tense and at times downright uncomfortable. Viewers will be able to relate to the premise of the film where the sensationalisation of a piece of news is more important than reporting the truth to garner ratings (interesting enough, the core value of the TV series Newsroom is somewhat opposite of this film but I digressed). However, the most notable highlight of the film is Jake Gyllenhaal performance. He undergoes a radical physical transformation to play the part of the main character. His almost skeletal appearance, fake smile and dead eyes and his creepy "knowledge is power" personality really gets the audience under their skin. I thought his performance in last year's equally disturbing film Prisoners was mind blowing (soft spoken, eye twitching when stressed) but Gyllenhaal's performance here is a game-changer for his career. He deserves to get an Oscar nomination nod for this film. Equally impressive is Renee Russo's supporting character and the interesting relationship between her and Gyllenhaal. My favourite scene in the movie is at a Mexican restaurant where we can literally experience the balance of power shifting from one to the other. That amazing scene made my jaw dropped. The movie of course is not without its flaws as it occasionally runs into pacing issues and some of the plots are a little far fetched. The score is serviceable and the photography is noteworthy as it managed to capture the darker underbelly of LA suburbs. 

 

Rating 8.5/10