Film No.78 (2014) Nightcrawler. November 17th.

Film No.78 (2014) November 17th. 6:30 PM VMAX Innaloo.

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal emerged as a character actor of quality with the cult figure Donnie Darko thirteen years ago. Since then many a film buff has been waiting for another strange fellow to creep from our screens with Gyllenhaal wearing his skin. For me the time has come, Lou Bloom is the creep and Nightcrawler is the film.

We meet Bloom as a down and out thief working the L.A. streets accumulating steel and metal junk for cash so that he can maintain a semblance of a nocturnal existence. Suddenly he finds himself amongst the chaos of a traffic accident on a freeway. We observe him taking in every detail of a camera crew working the scene to film fresh fodder to sell to the highest bidding network keen to fill their breakfast television schedule. This gives him the seed of an idea for making fast cash.

Bloom is a psychopath of the Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) order, but without the misguided moral foundation De Niro gave Bickle. Gyllenhaal as Bloom takes us on a twisted journey of entrepreneurial genius as he becomes a major player in the news collection industry. But he then delivers us into evil as we stare into his single minded persona via his dark eyes. His autistic tendencies mean the people who mean most to him, Nina (Rene Russo) and Rick (Riz Ahmed), don't mean much to him at all. So, what happens when he decides to manipulate the news?

Many a movie goer may revile this film. The subject matter may bring issues about our world too close to their own doorstep. For me Dan Gilroy found a wonderful narrative to create a new cult character to be remembered. Lou may not quite meet the standards of Donnie but he goes mighty close. Bloom will certainly creep under your skin and we have Gyllenhaal to thank or detest, which ever you prefer. 10GUMS.