— nightcrawler —

*NOMINATED FOR 1 OSCAR*

Dan Gilroy’s directional debut is compelling and intriguing, it is also captivating and shocking. Jake Gyllenhaal is unbelievably good! What’s even more unbelievable is that he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar in his amazing role as Louis Bloom. There has been a lot of chatter concerning this Oscar snub, but lets not focus on that now, lets just strew over what makes Nightcrawler a great piece of cinema.

First of all, there are some beautiful shots in this film, cleverly scattered to create a grand but solace space.

Jake Gyllenhaal really brings to life this anti-hero. I say anti-hero because the Bloom character is likeable, but at the same time very dislikable. The sunken cheeks and accentuated cheek bones, with a close to never blinking look, given by the obsessive commitment from Jake makes Bloom a scary, hungry ‘coyote’ looking for prey, not just to survive, but to ravish for the sheer pleasure of it! I say coyote because Jake visualised his character as a hungry coyote, so much so that the movie, at one point was going to be entitled along the lines of ‘something, coyote’. Commitment is a light word in comparison to the intensive preparation that Jake put himself through, losing 20 pounds, hospitalising himself, and working out 8 hours a day, running and/or cycling are just some examples of what the Jake machine is capable of!

Jake Gyllenhaal has some interesting roles coming up, it will be exciting to see what new limits he is able to take himself to!

Dan Gilroy. One to watch. I know that he is working on a couple of upcoming scripts, Stan Lee’s Annihilator and Battle for Bonneville, but I am not sure what he will be directing next. It is worth keeping a close eye on this guy, because I am certain he stunned everyone with this influential piece.

Nightcrawler is raw as sashimi, but heavily nutritious! You will want to keep watching, you will be glued to your seat with anticipation, and there will be moments when you will be thinking, “what the…”. Nightcrawler is thought-provoking and elegantly written, join Louis Bloom as he crawls all over the city at night.

TRIVIA COOKIE: Dan Gilroy say’s that his initial inspiration came from Weegee, or Arthur Fellig. He was a crime photographer from the 30’s.