Plot
When Lou Bloom, a driven man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 8.3/10 (15,437 voted)
Critic's Score: 76/100
Director: Dan Gilroy
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton
Storyline
NIGHTCRAWLER is a thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles.
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal -
Louis Bloom
Michael Papajohn -
Security Guard
Marco RodrÃguez -
Scrapyard Owner
Bill Paxton -
Joe Loder
James Huang -
Marcus Mayhem Video
Kent Shocknek -
Kent Shocknek
Pat Harvey -
Pat Harvey
Sharon Tay -
Sharon Tay
Rick Garcia -
Rick Garcia
Leah Fredkin -
Female Anchor
Bill Seward -
Bill Seward
Rick Chambers -
KWLA Anchor Ben Waterman
Holly Hannula -
KWLA Anchor Lisa Mays
Jonny Coyne -
Pawn Shop Owner
Nick Chacon -
Cop #1
Opening Weekend: $10,441,000
(USA)
(31 October 2014)
Gross: $19,618,437
(USA)(7 November 2014)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Riz Ahmed's favourite movie role after Four Lions. See more »
Goofs:
The day after Lou first encounters a car accident, the newscast reports the crash as taking place on the 110 freeway. However, Los Angeles residents would easily be able to notice that the crash is actually on the 105 freeway, near LAX. See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 10/10
Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is adrift. He is stealing copper wire to live.
He's a scavenger, basically, but he's bright and he's a quick study and
he's curious about things, and when he stumbles onto an accident and
watches a camera crew led by a noxious wise-ass (Bill Paxton) shoot the
victim and the burning car, he has an epiphany. He asks Paxton who he
works for, and learns that Paxton's a freelancer, someone who shoots
the video, then sells it to the local news. He is constantly roaming,
listening to police scanners, trying to get to the scene before any one
else. Bloom's hooked immediately. Something about the idea seems to
speak to him on a chemical level.
He buys a cheap video camera and a cheap scanner and he starts to try
to do it himself, and sure enough, once he starts to do it, he seems to
have a knack for it. He establishes a business relationship with the
graveyard shift news director for a local station, selling her footage
for the morning news. Nina (Russo) is cynical to begin with, only
interested in blood and guts, and once Bloom's got the scent, he seems
to have an unnerving ability to get right up in the gore.There's a good
chunk of the film that's simply about how Bloom begins to learn to
navigate this nighttime world of murder and car accidents and stabbings
and fires. He hires a homeless guy named Rick (played by Riz Ahmed, who
was so great in "Four Lions") to be his ride-along "intern," to listen
to the scanner and man the GPS as Bloom drives, and little by little,
the two of them start to get really good.
Telling you any more than that would be criminal. Suffice it to say
that those who gaze into the abyss better be worried about what's
looking back. That almost makes it sound like Gilroy's made a morality
play, but "Nightcrawler" is darker and weirder than that, more
interested in studying Bloom, who is a fascinating character as written
and as played. One of the things I really loved about the film is the
photography by the amazing Robert Elswit. As Bloom gets better and
better at his job, he starts to talk about composition and framing and
he starts to care about how his footage looks, and Elswit's eye is a
big part of what makes the film work. It is an aggressively beautiful
film, and easily the best visual representation of Los Angeles at night
since Michael Mann's "Collateral." There is a particular sort of sodium
yellow that the film is drenched in, and it made me feel like I was
standing on Hollywood Boulevard at 2:30 in the morning. I could smell
the city. Elswit practically gives a performance in the film, his work
is so essential to why it works.The film plays with tension
beautifully, and there are a few set pieces that I think are
all-timers. One involves a home in the hills, and the other involves a
Chinese restaurant, and both of them are exceptional in the way they
manage to wrap theme and character and suspense together. There's not
an ounce of fat on the film. It gets in, it tells the story as well as
it possibly can, and it cuts out perfectly. This is ultimately a story
about the strange dance that evolves between Nina and Bloom, and it's
the best role Russo's had in years. His brother, Tony Gilroy, made his
directorial debut with "Michael Clayton," and in both cases, these guys
are making smart, grown-up movies that have these haunting qualities
that make them special. I think "Nightcrawler" is something special,
uncompromising, and I'm excited to see how other people feel when they
slip into the violent, seedy, scary world it creates.
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