Nightcrawler 📹
The happiest of Mondays to you! Let’s get back up and running, shall we?
Today’s movie is Dan Gilroy’s thriller Nightcrawler (2013)—streaming on Netflix. Though it is the sixth film that Gilroy—brother of the late legend Tony Gilroy—wrote, it was his directorial debut, which is impressive considering it earned him critical acclaim, an Oscar nom for Best Original Screenplay, and very nearly got star Jake Gyllenhaal his second Oscar nomination. Yup, that’s right. One of our greatest living actors Jake Gyllenhaal only has *one* Oscar nomination.
Anyway… review below and here’s the trailer.
Nightcrawler is about perpetual hustler Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) and his endless pursuit for success. One night, after witnessing stringers—freelance video journalists—recording footage from a car accident he finds his new line of work. As he dives deeper into the L.A. underbelly of crime, he maybe becomes too involved in getting the story.
What I love about Nightcrawler is that it takes clear inspiration from two of my favorite Martin Scorcese movies—The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver—but it’s careful to emulate and not imitate. Instead, Lou Bloom is a wholly original and terrifyingly compelling anti-hero. His extreme obsession with his new career is offset by the fact that he’s actually good at it—for all the wrong reasons.
As he defies any moral-standard to get his story, we watch almost helplessly as people around him become pawns in his game rather than actual humans. And while a lesser movie would mine that for pure horror, Nightcrawler asks whether or not that’s already happening anyway in our society.
Nightcrawler is available to buy or rent on Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.
Additional reading (or watching) 📚
Make it a double feature: The King of Comedy
Like so many people in New York City, Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is a man with a dream. His dream is to be a famous stand-up comedian and be recognized by his hero Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). However, when his plan to get on Langford’s radar backfires, he resorts to more twisted measures. [Where to watch]
More Nightcrawler analysis
“Lessons from the Screenplay” breaks down how Gilroy creates the perfect empathetic antihero in Lou Bloom in this video essay.
One trailer you should watch: The Devil All the Time
Hope you have a terrific week!
See you Thursday —
Karl (@karl_delo)