Nightcrawler tells the story of Louis Bloom, a thief and con-man desperate for work. Everything changes when he discovers the world of nightcrawlers; crime journalists in L.A. who record and sell their crime images (accidents, aftermaths of violent crimes) to local news TV stations. Bloom will do anything to advance in this world where he sees the best opportunity to become someone. That’s the plot of Nightcrawler, the film that might be the best of Jake Gyllenhaal’s career, and here’s why:
Jake Gyllenhaal, the Villain
Open Road Films
Jake Gyllenhaal has been acting since he was a child, and rose to fame for his role in Donnie Darko. Since then, he’s become a movie star, playing all kinds of roles: a romantic lead, a cowboy in love, a soldier, someone who wanted to find the Zodiac killer, a Prince of Persia, and a villain in a comic franchise, to name a few. But throughout the years, it has become obvious that the roles where Gyllenhaal has had more fun and is at his best are when he can be unhinged and dark, going against the expectations that everyone has of him. That’s the reason the Louis Bloom role was perfect for him, and it was his best performance ever. He’s still a handsome, smart, white man, who thinks he should get everything he wants. But this time, he uses those powers for evil. He wants a comfortable life and doesn’t care how he gets there. There is no morality involved, only results. Bloom will do anything to survive and get ahead, as he lacks any empathy, even if it means morally compromising himself or using violence.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Gyllenhaal went all-in for the role. He decided to lose 20 pounds, biked to the set every day, and kept working out to keep his slim presence, as he saw the character as a hungry coyote, always looking for the next bite. His character never blinks, and looks like all he eats are self-help books and corporate language. Gyllenhaal creates a unique character; one that starts as an antihero you root for, but as the movie keeps going and his character doesn’t stop his pursuits, you understand the truth: Gyllenhaal is playing an absolute capitalist villain, and he’s loving every moment of it.
About the character, Gilroy told Indiewire: “The character of Lou is like a nocturnal animal that comes down out of the hills at night to feed. Jake would call him a coyote. That’s sort of the symbolic animal; that’s why he lost all the weight because coyotes are always hungry.”
Dan Gilroy’s Impeccable Script and Direction
Dan Gilroy had been a screenwriter for more than twenty years (Freejack, Two for the Money, and The Bourne Legacy, to name a few) when he directed this movie. It was his first, but you wouldn’t notice as his direction is on point. He’s a bit like Michael Mann (in a good way), shooting in digital in L.A. and showing someone good at his job, even if that means crossing some limits. The script is a great piece of writing, and together with Gyllenhaal, they created this unique character. But he’s not alone; the whole cast is incredible, and Gilroy had a great eye selecting them.
Riz Ahmed plays Rick, Bloom’s assistant in one of his first roles in Hollywood, and leaves his mark on the film, showing the contrast between the sociopath Bloom and someone down on his luck like Rick. It’s still one of Ahmed’s best performances, and it was noticed by the rest of the industry. Rene Russo and the late Bill Paxton also have important roles: she’s Nina, the local news director that buys Bloom’s footage and kind of becomes sexually entangled with him. The scene where Bloom propositions her is a lot more about business and power than sex or (gasp!) love. Russo does great with the character and makes us miss her, as she hasn’t done that much work recently. Paxton’s character, Joe, is the man that introduces Bloom to the world of nightcrawlers, as he’s one himself. It might be the worst decision ever, as he not only creates a competitor, but one that will try to starve everyone else in his field, with any tactics necessary.
The other great idea that Gilroy had, was to shoot in L.A., but not your typical Los Angeles; there’s no Hollywood Hills or Venice. Gilroy told Hollywood Reporter: “The real story is urban crime creeping into the suburbs, trying to instill suburbanites with the idea that there’s this nefarious presence that’s about to creep over their hedges,” Gilroy explained. “I think it’s very destructive, and I think it creates a climate of fear that negatively impacts how we all live.”
The director kept this movie a family affair, his wife, Rene Russo, plays a part, his brother, John Gilroy, was the editor, and his other brother Tony Gilroy, a screenwriter and director himself, was a producer that had some good ideas for the film, like the line where Rick points out that following killers in Bloom’s red car might not be the greatest idea. It looks like, since then, Gyllenhaal also became part of the family, as he and Dan Gilroy collaborated again on Velvet Buzzsaw.
The American Dream, Perverted
Lou Bloom looks like the perfect image of the American dream: he comes from nothing, and he makes himself a businessman. The problem is how he gets there. Yes, he starts as a poor man, just surviving, who only wants a chance. But once he sees the opportunity, he won’t let it go. The movie might be a success story, but at what cost? Is it still the American dream if you need to humiliate, provoke violence, or cause despair in everyone around you? There’s no empathy in Bloom. He’s a sociopath looking to better himself at whatever cost necessary. He might be a direct descendant of both Gordon Gekko and Patrick Bateman, mixing greed and violence (more psychological than physical) to the utmost degree. But that’s the ruthlessness of capitalism, pure individualism, where to get money in your pocket, you must take it from someone else.
Gilroy and Gyllenhaal were both attracted by the story and Louis Bloom’s character because of all these traits, creating a neo-noir thriller where the L.A. night is full of terrors, deaths, and for someone like Bloom, opportunities. Maybe that’s why this is Gyllenhaal’s best movie; it’s his Taxi Driver, a film where a character with his own moral code changes the way society sees him, for the better, or in this case, for the worse.
