Rated R
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed
Written and Directed by Dan Gilroy
The Story:
Louis (Gyllenhaal) is a man without a mission in life. He's trying to score a job, but nobody is interested. Fate leads him to encounter independent "news crews" catching the action that happens in L.A. after dark. Intrigued, he sets out to become a 'nightcrawler' himself, proving to be successful enough to need his own assistant (Ahmed) as he continues to sell story after story to a local news station. However, Louis keeps pushing himself to make the stories better than the last, to the point he begins to blur the lines between what really happened, and what he may have helped happen.
There's a lot to this movie, I will give it that, right out of the gate.
Gilroy has crafted a movie with some very unlikeable characters, and yet you remain fairly riveted to the proceedings as each new segment sucks you in deeper to the story.
Gyllenhaal is completely irritating in his role, in a good way, if that's possible. I would say that he was likely dealing with autism or another disorder that makes his personality traits that way...
Or he's a complete dick.
:)
His drive to find the ultimate "if it bleeds it leads" story pushes him every night he's on the town.
Russo plays the station manager who buys his work and then becomes the object of his affection, a role she never is completely comfortable with, and rightly so. Remember, Louis is a jerk.
Ahmed brings a nice counter-balance to Louis and everything he stands for. A thankless part really, he brings the most joy and life to the screen, and suffers because of it.
It's well worth a viewing, but a film I'd rather not come back and watch again.
Ever.
;)
I watched it some time ago, but if you missed out, it is now streaming on Netflix as of this writing.
Final Grade: B
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