Nightcrawler Movie Review (2014)
An intense thriller about a news cameraman with a questionable moral compass, Nightcrawler slowly raises the stakes with mushrooming pressure and a fantastic lead.
There are so many great films that fly under the radar. Maybe they don’t get a full release at the movie theaters or there is a blockbuster released at the same time, but somehow, you never hear much about them. They don’t get the attention they deserve. Well, thank goodness for streaming, because with all of the options available to us now, we get a second bite at the apple.
Nightcrawler is about Leo Bloom, a loner and petty thief who is looking for a job. When he stumbles upon an accident one night, he sees a stringer (a freelance photo journalist) taking footage that the man plans to sell to the new stations. Deciding that he can do this work too, Leo steals a bicycle and trades it at a pawn shop for a video camera and a police scanner. Learning the game and selling his first video to news director, Nina, he later takes on an assistant and drives through the night, listening for crimes that he can attend and record.
This is a wild film that rests mostly on the shoulders of Jake Gyllenhaal as Leo Bloom. This man is odd, manipulative, and has no social skills, wholly working towards his goal of being noticed and successful. He can put on an act as needed, smiling broadly when the time is right, but when the façade comes down, he is rude, mean, and calculated – but unlike almost any other character you’ve met. He is hard to describe, which is part of what makes him fascinating.
Nightcrawler is the kind of film where you find yourself shouting unexpectedly. I heard myself yell, “Oh s&%t” and “Oh my god!” multiple times as incidents occurred on screen. This movie keeps you guessing because Leo’s boundaries are not the same as most people’s. He will do what he has to do (wants to do?) to get the results he desires.
Leo is an eager fast-talker in a world of people trying to be reasonable. Nina, who is always looking to tell the best story on the news that morning, hangs out on the edges as well. She has no problem changing a narrative to make the story more interesting for her viewers.
The film itself is very dark in tone and color, as the majority of the scenes take place at night. Accident after incident occurs (think car crashes, domestic abuse, shootings), and he and his assistant are running to the scene to get footage of people in their most vulnerable moments. In competition with other stringers, it’s just a matter of who gets there first to get the biggest payday from the networks.
Nightcrawler is a captivating film that gets more heated the longer you watch, with an undercurrent of apprehension at all times. The idea that one’s humanity is up for debate when every accident is a sale lingers, and because I was so taken with this movie, I even found myself saying the second half of the last line of the film with Leo. Because I knew what it had to be.
Runtime: 117 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on PlutoTv and Tubi, o rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
