The city shines brightest at night. When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.
Written by Dean Zarbaugh II
Jake Gylenhaal stars in this dark and gritty look into the world of crime journalism and how far one man is willing to go for the story. Nightcrawler was a smash hit at the box office, earning more than $50 million against a sub-$10 million budget, and has gained a loyal following since its release. It’s a wild ride from start to finish and keeps you guessing every step of the way.
Louis Bloom is a social outsider. Getting by as a petty thief, hocking the goods at pawn shops around town. After witnessing the aftermath of a fiery crash on the highway on his way home from the pawn shop, and seeing a band of crime journalists filming as the victim was pulled to safety, he wakes up the next day to watch their footage air on the local news. This inspires him to get into the crime journalist game himself. After a few stumbles, he quickly finds a groove and takes on Rick, an assistant played by the immensely talented Riz Ahmed. Together, Louis and Rick hit the streets of Los Angeles chasing down not only car accidents to film but more serious crimes as well in their quest for fame and notoriety. The more dangerous the crime, the better for Lou. Along the way, Lou meets Renee Russo’s Nina, a veteran news producer whose contract is expiring soon, and needs better ratings in order to keep her job, and Joe Loder, the industry veteran competing for the airwaves. In exchange for giving him pointers, he continues to bring Nina his footage to help her ratings situation. Seeing Lou’s incredible results for herself, she continues to encourage his less than honest methods in order to get better footage to air. It develops into a symbiotic relationship where Lou needs her to get his footage on air and Nina needs him to get her career jump started again. What follows blurs the line between journalism and entertainment, observing and participating and keeps pushing the boundaries of their own morality and ethics, while exposing that Lou has neither beyond his own self-preservation.
Writer and director Dan Gilroy does a wonderful job pacing the film, getting right into Bloom’s strange mind and the lengths he’ll go to obtain what he wants. Gilroy’s script was recognized with an Academy Award nomination that year, and rightfully so as it’s a tightly crafted story from start to finish. It has tones of a mafia story, with Gyllenhaal’s Louis being the brash new guy muscling in on the territory of the established order. This upset to the balance of power sets off a chain of events that there is no coming back from. Gilroy masterfully draws you into Lou’s world, and lets you live there uncomfortably until the credits roll. It will stay with you long after you’ve finished watching it, almost like a fever dream where you’re not sure what it is that you saw.
Behind the camera, Gilroy teamed with cinematographer Robert Elswit, known for his illustrious work lensing films like Punch Drunk Love, Boogie Nights, and There Will Be Blood for Paul Thomas Anderson among other classics like The Town, and Tomorrow Never Dies. On Nightcrawler, Elswit expertly mixes wider shots showcasing Lou’s inherent loneliness at home with tight close-ups that bring you right into the action during his filming of the crime scenes, and heightens the tension of these moments. They do a marvelous job of capturing the esthetic of Los Angeles at night. There’s something about driving around that city at night that hits different. I remember getting off work in Santa Monica at 11pm or midnight and driving back to the Valley and the vibe of the city was unlike anything I had ever felt before. The city felt “alive” if that makes sense. Despite the violence and intensity, Gilroy and Elswit bring that feeling to life in Nightcrawler.
Jake Gylenhaal gives a downright creepy and off-putting performance as Louis Bloom, a man who will stop at nothing to get the story, even if it means actively participating in, and manipulating it for his own selfish means. He is genuinely unsettling every time he’s on camera, getting more and more unhinged as the film progresses. I was already a fan of his earlier work, but Nightcrawler genuinely awed me with his range. I always knew him as Homer Hickham in October Sky and empathizing with his portrayal of a boy’s quest to reach for the stars and impress his father along the way. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that Louis Bloom is up there in Top 5 creepiest performances alongside the likes of Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance in The Shining, Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh, and Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho. It’s a downright snub that he wasn’t even nominated for Best Actor by the Academy that year.
Rene Russo gives another fantastic performance in her illustrious career in front of the camera. I’ve always enjoyed the roles she picks, and especially loved her in the Lethal Weapon series, The Thomas Crown Affair, Tin Cup, and Get Shorty. She’s always been an actor that is capable of taking wild swings with her performances and landing all of them. Nightcrawler finds her playing off-type as the strong, but cold-hearted news producer desperate to get out of the rut she’s in. Russo shows that desperation in some of the later scenes where she’s pushing Lou to do things she knows to be ethically and legally questionable. When she finds just how far Louis is willing to take things between them, regret and worry begin to set in. Russo plays both sides of Nina pitch perfectly, oscillating between the strong career woman and frightened victim of Lou’s machinations. She’s one of best performers to ever grace the screen and gives a career performance here.
Riz Ahmed is a fantastic actor and this was my introduction to him. For someone as fresh to the movie scene as Ahmed may be, he holds his own in his scenes with Jake Gylenhaal, and is the one sympathetic character in the entire film. Ahmed’s natural charm and charisma helps sell this, with very few actors able to pull that off. I’m glad Nightcrawler put Ahmed on my radar. I love following his post-Nightcrawler career.
Bill Paxton plays Joe, the veteran crime journalist who originally, albeit accidentally, inspired Lou to follow in the same path, and now finds himself in a competition with Lou for the most “newsworthy” crime scenes. Paxton was always a top tier performer, able to play whatever role comes his way. He could go from playing heroic astronaut Fred Haise in Apollo 13 to an absolute sleazeball used car salesman in True Lies and never miss a beat. We lost him way too soon, and I would love to see the roles he could’ve played. He’s entertaining as ever to watch in Nightcrawler, going toe-to-toe with Gyllenhaal.
Nightcrawler is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride through Los Angeles that keeps you glued to the screen trying to figure out what else can transpire, and asking yourself “what the hell just happened?” when all is said and done. A brilliant film that is expertly crafted, tightly structured and filled with powerful performances throughout.
GRADE: A
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