Creepy Crawly Night Life in the Big City on Film

Rating: 8/10 (23 June 2016)

Despite it's singular Oscar nomination, I avoided seeing this film for quite awhile since Jake Gyllenhaal is not a usual actor that I follow, and I am not particularly fond of violent movies...which I had an inclining this was. However, I finally did rent it and was quite surprise at its repressed violence, focusing instead on sheer creepiness of the primary character Lou played masterfully by Gyllenhaal. Affable Lou is an unemployed man, making a living by a series of pit/side jobs until a chance crossing of American paparazzi or "nighcrawlers" catches his fancy at a serious car accident scene. He finds his calling so to speak and begins honing his "career" fueled by online savvy & information. Renee Russo costars as a night news director hungry for his wares -- live videos of over-the-top graphic news Lou gets. The character sketch of Lou is executed so amazingly by Gyllenhaal I was completely mesmerized by his performance. Outside of the excessive bad language, it's actually a pretty good film focusing on the characters' stories without excessive violence, only suggestive sex (a nice change), and solid performances by all. A tantalizing view of night life in LA & those who feed off of it for a living.