Nightcrawler Review

The media can be relentless. Journalists out looking for stories at night will stick their cameras into any accident scene or cross a police line to get a shot to sell to a news channel for a paycheck. this is what the film Nightcrawler is about, a relentless journalist who will do anything to get a juicy news story. Written and directed by first timer Dan Gilroy, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, this film was one of the most surprisingly good cinematic experiences I have had all year and am disappointed it was only in theaters for a short time.

One of the first things that came to mind while watching this was the 2007 film There Will be Blood. Like Daniel Day Lewis' cunning yet deep down pychopathic Daniel Plainview, Gyllenhaal portrays a sociopathic journalist willing to kill to get ahead in his business. Interestingly enough, Nightcrawler was shot by Robert Elswit, the same cinematographer of There Will be Blood.

Comparisons aside, this was a film that delivered on so many levels yet remained reserved when it came to violence and the characterizations of madness. This was surprising as the trailers played the film as a Drive-esque action flick. Yet there was a level of realism and shock value to the action scenes that deserves praise as well as the fact these sequences were not overused.

This is a film I would highly recommend to anyone, especially filmmakers due to the questions raised in the film about the function of documentary film and the validity of the sensationalist  media.

Nightcrawler open in theaters October 31st.

On a side note, here are some photos I took at the theater