Dan Gilroy's 2014 crime drama/thriller 'Nightcrawler', has without a doubt become a cult classic amongst cinema-lovers throughout the past decade.
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a petty thief living in LA who takes it upon himself to become a photojournalist and sell footage of sensational and violent stories to television news outlets for a considerable amount of money.
Although this may seem innocent from initial perspective, the lengths that Bloom is willing to go to in order to capture some shocking footage and receive his next pay check are quite shocking and very quickly paint a picture of the type of film that this is.
The main selling point that this film associates itself with is the career-best performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. The American actor does an excellent job of physically and emotionally transforming himself in this role, to the point where he is, to an extent, unrecognisable.
For an hour and 57 minutes, it becomes difficult for the audience to remain aware of the fact that they are watching Gyllenhaal at his best, as opposed to watching some full-time crazy, money-driven psychopath lurk down the streets of Los Angeles.
Alongside Gyllenhaal, we also see British actor Riz Ahmed in one of the earlier roles in his career. In this film, Ahmed is tasked with the role of portraying 'Rick', Bloom's right-hand man throughout this entire operation.
Although Rick is also a man desperate for money and keen to end his homelessness, he is a man who knows the difference between right and wrong and tends to act as a representation of the audiences perspective as we watch Bloom do the things he is doing.
The main theme of this movie essentially revolves around the idea of needing/wanting money, and what extremes are you willing to go to in order to earn some?
Early on in the film we see Lou Bloom doing anything he can in order to have a stable job and earn some money, whether it is morally decent or not. And every action following this throughout the remainder of the movie he does with one thing in mind: money.
Not only does the director/writer of this film, Dan Gilroy, portray Bloom as a psychopath, thirsty for money. But I like to think that Gilroy is using Bloom as a representation of society in the United States, primarily Los Angeles civilians. In this day and age, many people would go to extreme lengths to earn considerable amounts of money, and Lou Bloom is just another example of this, whether he does it in a morally-right way or not.
Although Lou Bloom is in fact a psychopath with clear deep-lying mental issues, his main goal throughout all of this is to earn his next pay check, and his actions in this film represent just how far he is willing to go for money.
From an audience perspective, this film is relatively difficult not to enjoy. Although there are some scenes in the film as well as themes discussed that may not sit well with some audience groups, for the most part, this movie is easy to watch as well as enjoy.
Director, Dan Gilroy, does an excellent job of showing this film in a manor that allows it to flow very easily in front of the eyes of the audience, preventing them from getting lost in any major plot points because of audience inaccessibility.
Lou Bloom, as a character, is one to be remembered for generations to come. With huge help from the man that brings him to life, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lou Bloom should be up there on the podium with some of the best cinematic psychopaths such as Patrick Bateman and Jack Torrance.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
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