Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler
R
Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Distributor: Open Road Films
Director: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton, Ann Cusack, Kevin Rahm, Kathleen York, Eric Lange, Jonny Coyne, Michael Hyatt, Kiff VandenHeuvel.

Synopsis
Lou Bloom is a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling -- where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives. In the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he becomes the star of his own story.

Review
Pushing the interesting concept of ‘nightcrawling’, Dan Gilroy’s crime thriller delves into the world of crime-scene documenting. Gritty and raw, Lou Bloom, the driven yet sociopathic protagonist of the film, takes up the job as a nightcrawler, a type of unlicensed TV cameraman that captures real-life footage of crimes and bloody accidents around downtown L.A. As the story progresses with a darker career path undetaken by Lou, the code of ethics within the reporting media becomes questionable as sensational headlines were made by applying untruthful twists on the facts and news. With all the characters going to the extremes presenting their sensationalised piece of information, such provocative scenes are certain to challenge audiences’ rationality in determining the authencity of a newssource and conscience in separating the rights and wrongs of the facts. Thought provoking content aside, Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as a modern-day sociopath is award-worthy (the intensity of his stare will kill you in an instance...), he’s essentially adding dimensions to that sense of desperation the character is having, thus leading the story to go places, dark places.

Rating
4/5 Stars