Nightcrawler Movie Review

This is not a stand alone film for one of the X-Men characters. Just thought I'd clarify before the review...

Nightcrawler is written and directed by Dan Gilroy and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a complete and utter psychopath who one day discovers an underground network of "black journalism", people who find crime scenes using police radios and sell the footage they obtain to news channels. As he becomes more experienced, he becomes good. Very good. Too good. To the point where he starts to commit crime himself and becomes lost in his new obsession.

What I loved most about this movie was that it was actually about something which made me think. A lot of movies these days use the excuse of "turning your brain off" to enjoy an action set-piece film for example, not Nightcrawler. This movie has so much to say about the way the media choose to present the news as a means of being competitive with other news networks and gaining higher ratings. It showed the darker side to Journalism and thoroughly explored the ethical dilemmas that can arise from reporting on crime. There is one point in the movie where Gyllenhaal's character is told to find a crime with its victims being wealthy white people as opposed to a working class, black family, and I found that social commentary to be extremely fascinating and cleverly executed.

Nightcrawler is, at times, a dark comedy and uses comedic dialogue as another way of commentating on how ambiguous and disgusting the news reporting world can be. I like dark comedy a lot if its done well and yes Nightcrawler is funny for all the wrong reasons.

Jake Gyllenhaal is mesmerising in this role and completely disappears into his character to the point where Jake Gyllenhaal is no longer on screen, which is what I think is the best type of performance an actor can give. His character is a psychopath but you strangely route for him as his sanity declines over the runtime. From the opening few shots you can tell that there are a few loose wires in this guy's head and as the movie goes on we see his morals fly out the window as he starts to manipulate those around him for his own personal position and create crimes just so he can get them broadcasted first.

The film explores moral ambiguity through a screenplay which delivers sharp dialogue that intrigues you throughout. Its a character driven piece and it works because Gyllenhaal's character is just so fascinating. He says things that no other person would say, and your reaction is either sheer disbelief or you're laughing. The way he delivers some of this dialogue is  so unique and he does a terrific job at selling this guy as a pure psycho.

As we see Gyllenhaal's character drift into obsession and desperation we start to see the skill of director Dan Gilroy, who just so happens to be a first time director with this film. The tension builds in moments where characters are simply sat down in a car talking to each other and Gilroy did a fantastic job in balancing his script with commentary, humour and emotion.

The film takes place almost always at night and Gilroy makes the streets of LA look phenomenal through beautiful cinematography. While the movie is nearly always shrouded in darkness it still looks colourful and vibrant. Its a technically masterful feature and delivers a jaw-dropping car chase sequence during a finale which culminated beautifully.

I have no complaints with Nightcrawler, and I believe that Gyllenhaal and Gilroy should receive some serious Oscar consideration for their fantastic work here. If the Hunger Games is sold out, seek Nightcrawler out if you have the chance:


Rating - A


Thanks for reading,
Matt