With Jake Gyllenhaal you never go wrong.

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2015)

Honestly, I can't remember a movie with Jake Gyllenhaal which I disliked. Every movie which features him seems to be entertaining and often memorable. From the days of Donnie Darko, to Enemy (the last one I saw) and now Nightcrawler.
In this movie, Jake Gyllenhaal is a loner who just doesn't seem to be able to get a job despite all his efforts. One night, as he is probably driving home, he sees a camera crew filming a fatal car crash and quickly selling the footage to some news channel. Mesmerized by what he just witnessed, he goes to a pawn shop the next day where he buys a video camera and a police scanner to track incidents. From then on, he will be driving the streets of LA on a hunt for the most unique footage.
What starts as a way to make money, quickly spirals into a crazy obsession for the protagonist. And that's exactly what the movie is about: the transformation of a man who goes from being a lost cause to a completely different beast the moment he finds something that gives his life some direction. Sadly, as it often happens in the real world, the new him will have no hesitation in crushing everything that comes his way to make it to the top. As a spectator, you rub your hands while trying to imagine how far he will go.
But apart from the adventures of our protagonist, what I liked about the movie is how the director depicts the unknown world of media in a way that feels surrealistic but true. You can't help but wonder if the movie is in fact closer to reality than you'd like to think and the world of communications is as obscure as you are shown. This enigma still got me thinking about the movie two days after I actually watched it.
That in itself is a clear sign I got what I paid for. I do not often say this, but I will definitely re- watch the movie at some point. Personally, I highly recommend it.