Nightcrawler – a film by Dan Gilroy

Nightcrawler – a film by Dan Gilroy

Jake Gyllenhaal really nails it this time. He plays Lou Bloom, a controlling maniac with a strong dose of OCD, who turns to filming crime scenes in downtown Los Angeles and then sells his bloody offerings to a local TV news show. This modest budget film noir is Dan Gilroy’s first stab at directing and I could sense some influence from the controversial Canadian director, David Cronenberg, whose forte is to take a straightforward story and submerge it with twisted morals – his works include A History of Violence and, more recently, Maps to the Stars. Gyllenhaal provides perfect delivery for the tight and sometimes amusing script which was also written by Gilroy.

The news catch phrase: “If it bleeds, it leads” is paramount to the story and Rene Russo ( real life wife of director, Dan Gilroy) delivers a strong performance as the local TV station’s news director. Gyllenhaal and Russo are well matched as Russo strives to save her show’s ratings by broadcasting Gyllenhaal’s gory and, at times, sick images. The methods of how the footage is obtained becomes more and more dubious but both parties are relentless in their obsessive pursuit of greed and fame. The message is clear – crime pays and the film, thankfully, does not attempt any efforts at moral rectitude. It’s a surprising, clever work and one where Gyllenhaal’s performance deserves some concrete recognition.