Nightcrawler (2014)

[AniNate]

That was a pretty intense car chase at the end, I have to admit.

[GeneralKong]

Loved it.The film is sharp as a satire, but also does a terrific job of ratcheting up tension, and Gyllenhaal gives probably his best performance to date.

9/10 

[kitik]

Loved it!  This film better get some Oscar nominations!

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

A special film. Great ideas + great performances. The only weakness might be Gyllenhaal's character; I felt like he was more of a symbol than a character.

A-



 

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

I don't feel like this film had anything particularly interesting to say about journalism and I'm starting to tire of the "faux-awkward" mannerisms of sociopathic characters. I really think a more obviously intimidating actor would've been the way to go here. I just don't buy Gyllenhaal's character being able to charm his way to the top, and the immoral things he did to get the shot stopped being surprising once he shoved his camera in a victim's face near the beginning. Easily the most forgettable film I saw today even though it was the one I saw last.

Gyllenhaal doesn't charm his way to the top, though. His work is what gets him to the top. (Yes, there's that scene where he says hi to everyone, but I wouldn't count that as "charming your way to the top.")

I don't think it has anything interesting to say about journalism, but I do think it has interesting things to say about the "I'll do anything to get my job" done mentality that so many people support without thinking of the consequences.

 

[Gopher]

I think it's a great experience (that scene with Gyllenhaal and Russo at the restaurant is an all-timer) and Gyllenhaal deserves all the acclaim. It doesn't have anything necessarily new to say about journalism in America, but it's deliciously seedy nonetheless.

[DeeCee]

Bad.

I don't remember why I made this post.

[ChD]

I didn't love it, but I surely didn't dislike it either. It was pretty fucked up at times, but still pretty enjoyable.

 

B

[ladyevenstar22]

nightcrawler was creepy , jake gyllenhall lends himself quite well to the creepy off-beat character role !

 

of course if you get past that there's def something to it about the american core value of the self-made man , although this character has a psychopathic skewed view of things 

 

someone else might say he's driven and likely most of the other characters except renee russo see him as just a driven successful businessman,but even she kinda gets over her slight reserves as he delivers results ,he even seems to rub off on her a little in sense she starts having more expectations 

 

its a weird film , much like "maps to the stars"

 

kinda makes you wonder all these successful people what skeletons are in their closet? what and who did they kill/trumple in the process not necessarily on purpose but after the fact , then again some probably did it on purpose!

 

guess it all comes down to what can you and can't live with doing /saying/feeling ? 

 

i guess i'll say in itself the character is noteworthy but the movie itself ehh! so A- flirting on a B+

[Deep Wang]

Finally saw it and that was some really good shit.

My heart was pounding for almost the entire sequence at the end.

Thrilling as fuck.

[acsc1312]

Jake! Elswit! loved this film. Definitely in my top 10 for the year.

[darkelf]

Wow. What an incredibly fucked up and incredibly awesome movie. Gyllenhaal confirms his status as one of the best actors working today and Dan Gilroy makes a great directorial debut filled with tension, drama, humor and a ton of weird shit. Looked damn pretty too.

 

9/10

[acsc1312]

I think it's a great experience (that scene with Gyllenhaal and Russo at the restaurant is an all-timer) and Gyllenhaal deserves all the acclaim. It doesn't have anything necessarily new to say about journalism in America, but it's deliciously seedy nonetheless.

 

Did we just become best friends? Your reviews are always exactly what I'm thinking. That dinner scene had me so engrossed.

[Joel M]

The movie was very good and filled with tension and dark humour. But Gyllenhaal was truly amazing. He has been great in many movies but this is easily his best performance. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

[dashrendar44]

The vampire metaphor runs through the movie and creeps everywhere from the settings (nightime LA), the protagonist and his "job". A livid and creepy guy who just strolls into the night looking after someone and something he can vampirize to elevate himself in the social ladder applying all those self-improvement and self-made man success mantras like a robot lacking any genuine human social skills and speaking in corporate business lingo 24/7. And the horrible truth is that's what makes him the best at what he does. He's an amoral and seedy weirdo cruising for blood, a deviant product of sensational news TV sub-culture, a parasite looking for a host to use and devour without remorse like Mattmav said. He's a low class Patrick Bateman working for TMZ.

 

I have my own reservations about how he got away so easily from the authorities, the movie needed to be longer and felt short, not necessary moral come-uppance but there has to be the burden of responsibilities and consequences for the character after all this and shows that he has totally sunken into delusion, that he shapes his own grave by vampirizing crime scenes and courting death for his living. The movie wants to mirror Taxi Driver's ending framed by Michael Mann but it didn't work as well. Some music choices were quite offbeat so you don't quite get if it is meant to be satirical or genuine (and tacky as a result).

 

Gyllenhaal got his creepy weirdo schtick nailed to the T since Donnie Darko so I wasn't surprised how well he comes off as a hungry and lunatic cameraman oblivious to morality to achieve great success within a world filled with cynical hyenas like Rene Russo's character. That long take scene when he pins Rene Russo in her office was chilling. He's menacing even though he looks like a gimp with a tiny soft voice and doesn't physically touch his partner. The confidence and immovable sense of ambition as a "proud president of his own business company Video News Entertainment" that drives him associated with that manic possessed stare, that's the kind of incredible performance in one take that acting is all about.

 

A-.

Edited January 22, 2015 by dashrendar44

[Crusader]

The film was quite good and JG was pretty amazing in it but there was always the ghost of Taxi Driver looming over the whole ordeal reminding you just what is missing in order for it to be perfect 

 

Still its a great movie and certainly this generation's Taxi Driver which is not the highest praise I can give but its certainly high praise 

 

LOL I know this is kinda sick but I have to say it - I can't believe that the guy deflowered Taylor Swift is the same guy giving these great dark performances lately ( Enemy is an underrated magnificent performance IMO ) it just doesn't seem right 

Edited March 5, 2015 by Crusader

[Lordmandeep]

My kind of film?

 

A- 

[luna]

well-done hollywood production about the perverse incentives created by a profit-driven media.

 

6.4/10