REVIEW: Nightcrawler (2014)

"Nightcrawler. Not a superhero movie, with a superhero movie title."

I remembered watching this film back in 2014 when I was pursuing my master degree in Taiwan. Nearby my university, there is this big movie theater that specializes in running past movies a.k.a the already played movies in big theaters for about 2-3 months; then they grouped each movie in couple, or in an American way of saying it, a double feature (kinda like 70s exploitation era nuance). It much cheaper, and they screened two films back to back. At the time I chose to watch Anthony Fuqua's The Equalizer (2014) and the one I will review it here, Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler (2014).

I can say that Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Lou Bloom, is creepy AF. His big, restless eyes haunted me throughout the film; hunting for footage to be sold as news. Lou Bloom character is somewhat resembling a mentally unstable Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver (1976), combined with Elliot Carver's (Tomorrow Never Dies / 1997) thirst for news sensation. He surely has problems, more like a lonely, egoistical sociopath that has no empathy even to his cameraman, with an equal lust for sex and scavenging violent events to be sold.

Balancing Lou's manic personality, comes Rene Russo's Nina Romina, a news producer who capitalizes and sensationalizes news headline for better viewership. As the peanut butter to the slice of a bread, the two complete each other symbiotically where clearly reflects Gilroy's cryptic message about the beneficial relationship between unethical journalism and viewership demand.

Most of the setting in this film happens at night, with a dream-like kinda atmosphere to it. There's a scene with a shaky-cam technique in order to evoke the feeling of being a stinger; and there are certainly some tense moments, balanced with dry-wit black comedy aspects. I salute Gilroy's direction, and their marketing team who creatively made a video resume of Lou Bloom character on Craigslist.

In conclusion, it's a good thriller, without complex plot; but with complex characters. Viewers can relate to it, reflect to it.

It's a great directorial debut I'd encourage you to watch.

4 out of 5.