Slapping our Media Obsessed Society in the Face!

Rating: 9/10 (4 November 2014)

Nightcrawler is a brilliant movie with a strong premise that is led by a standout performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. I cannot stress enough the impact and intensity from Jake Gyllenhaal, his character Lou is terrifying, but not in a directly violent way, but in a way that he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals no matter what the obstacle. He is manipulative and in a sense, a genius, and that is what makes him so frightening, he's the smartest guy in the room. I loved watching him start small and then climb his way to the top by using people who are nothing more than pawns in his grand scheme of things. Aside from Lou, the plot in general is genius, it speaks volumes about today's society and our obsession with violence and media. It basically portrays the media as attention whores who will do anything for a leading story and television ratings. They lack morals & compassion, and exploit people at their most vulnerable. An industry perfectly fit for the cold and emotionless Lou, who is willing to take things one step further. But even with all these shining aspects from the film, there is one glowing problem, its abrupt ending. It wrapped up too neat and quick, it could have been either a happy ending or a dark ending for all I care, but something that would have featured more substance and story. It left the viewer with more questions and story to be told, but instead it chose to skip over all that and move on (taking the easy way out in a sense). The movie is 117 minutes long, which certainly isn't 'long', but it could have added an additional 30 minutes of story for a solid conclusion and I would have had no problem with that. But when all is said and done, Nightcrawler is one of the best movies of the year, regardless of its shortcomings. Jake Gyllenhaal has come a very long way and I absolutely love the roles he has been taking recently (especially this one in particular), hopefully he receives an Oscar nomination!
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