Thursday, November 13, 2014

Movie Review Madness: Nightcrawler


Nightcrawler is creepy intense good.  Jake Gyllenhaal is not quite right when we meet him. He’s a thief who ultimately decides to start filming crime aftermath at night. He learns quickly and does beat Bill Paxton’s crew at their own game. With a police scanner he learns the codes and lingo and he’s there with a camera to film the blood and gore of the night. “If it bleeds, it leads”. Sure enough, the news producer (Rene Russo) starts buying his film and he works all the angles.  

Nightcrawler is a film about morals, scruples, and the length folks go to for a story. (Too far).  It’s scary good and makes you think about what you see on television. But it’s all about the ratings and Jake’s character knows he has a lot of power. This film is not for the feint of heart. Whether it’s a fire or traffic accident, Jake is there for the closeup. Does he eliminate the competition?  As I said, this movie is almost too close for comfort when it comes to what is right or wrong. Great acting and perhaps an Oscar nomination for Gyllenhaal.  Watch the evening news at your own peril. Yikes!

 

2 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of this one before now. Sounds suspenseful and intriguing although I'm not a big fan of gore.Thanks for the review!

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  2. Good review, but this doesn't sound like my kinda flick. Reporters who shove their microphones in the faces of people after some God-awful event so they can ask stupid insensitive questions in the hopes of upping their ratings make me sick. The idea of a photographers who'd zoom in (so to speak) to capture the blood and gore for the same reason would reeeeally make me sick... in full-blown technicolor.

    Happy weekend!

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