First-time director Dan Gilroy might have been more interested in looking at an obsessive personality than making any major cultural statement with Nightcrawler, but it is hard to avoid what the lean, two-hour thriller is also about. The movie could have easily been subtitled “How Journalism Dies,” since that’s the foundation that allows Lou Bloom to exist at all.
Bloom, who of course shares the last name of Gene Wilder’s character in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, is played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who has bolted onto the screen with a vengeance. After his muted, slow-burning raging detective in Prisoners, the actor is leaving behind his boyish good looks for darker roles and Bloom is just his latest. This is a performance that can go down in history as one of the greats, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Gilroy’s surprising genre masterpiece is a bit more than a one-man show.
Nightcrawler begins with Bloom trying to make a few bucks from stealing fences, manhole covers and other assorted metal objects lying around Los Angeles. But when that doesn’t result in a job, he continues prowling the highways of Southern California to find his next idea to make money. He spots a car accident with police responding and two guys with cameras shooting the scene. These men are making money by selling the footage to local news and Bloom sees a cheap, easy way to make some dough himself.
As success builds and he creates a relationship with local morning news director Nina (Rene Russo), Bloom decides to take on a protege, Rik (Riza Ahmed).
That’s the first half of the film, which starts building rather slowly. One of these tragic scenes Bloom films has to get him into deeper trouble. However, Gilroy lets Bloom’s confidence skyrocket out of control before one incident finally sticks. It’s much more dangerous than anything else he had shot.
Thankfully, Nightcrawler doesn’t fall entirely on Gyllenhall’s performance. He’s completely unhinged thanks to the array of talent he has around him. Russo matches him beat-for-beat, particularly in their chilling dinner scene. Ahmed, who has acted in a few films prior to this, gives a breakout performance as the constantly stunned assistant. He tries desperately to be Bloom’s conscious, but it never works. It’s a role that requires more than just sitting with mouth agape as Gyllenhaal rips into the material and Ahmed pulls it off.
But it is Gyllenhaal that makes this a must-see movie. He’s shockingly thin and gangly, with his eyes ready to bulge out of the screen. Bloom is a twisted maniac who even convinces Nina to leave behind her journalistic ethics for money. This is a character that could only exist in today’s climate, when even in the real world, cable news twists stories to sensationalize them. He causes the whole movie to lose its moral center, if it even had one to begin with.
Gilroy also proves to be a director to watch, following in the footsteps of his brother, Tony (whose own directing debut, Michael Clayton, was just as exciting). He uses close-ups expertly and engineers a great, quick montage sequence with the help of his other brother, editor John. There’s also a stylish Los Angeles in the background, one that could rival the LA of Drive. Also, James Newton Howard’s fantastic score adds to the tense atmosphere.
Nightcrawler is a surprisingly relevant thriller, brimming with ideas that it fully realizes. It is genuinely scary thanks to Gyllenhaal’s commanding performance and his affect on everyone in the movie. Bloom’s twisted personality fits today’s world perfectly, which is the real horror here.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com