Nothing to do with X-men

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2017)

Okay, so please don't tell me that I'm the only person who, every time he sees the word 'Nightcrawler,' thinks about the blue, vampire-like teleporter from X-men? All right, just me then. Anyway, this film – also entitled 'Nightcrawler' has absolutely nothing to do with superpowered mutants and more to do with the dark, seedy behind-the-scenes world of modern newsrooms. I do like X-men, but I like this more.
Jake Gyllenhaal – once again – plays a brooding and possibly damaged character. We're never really given much backstory regarding how or why he's like he is. He just is. And he's just dark – possibly a modern day sociopath. While I was watching this film, all I could think of was 'American Psycho.' Not that Jake spends his evenings slicing up ladies of the night. He's far more subtle than that. He doesn't set out to cause misfortune, he simply realises that there's money to be made from other people's suffering and therefore decides to exploit this situation by becoming an independent cameraman on the streets of L.A.
It's fair to say that this is hardly a 'noble profession' and he quickly discovers that he has to cut the metaphorical throat of anyone who stands in his way. Watch out rival cameraman played by Bill Paxton – it's not just aliens, Terminators and Predators who are out to get you! Gyllenhaal's character adapts with ease to this lifestyle, happy to step on anyone who gets in his way in pursuit of the next big scoop. In many films they say you have to 'relate' to the central character in order to enjoy the story. I doubt many of us will 'relate' to a man who is quite happy to trample anyone who gets in his way in order to further his own ambition, but then I doubt many people felt like they identified with Patrick Bateman and 'American Psycho' was a pretty big hit! If you watch 'Nightcrawler' you need to be prepared for a pretty bleak and dark insight into the way the world (or rather modern day news) works. It's hardly a 'feel-good' film and the whole show rests on Gyllenhaal's shoulders, but, as with many of his films before, he carries it all the way. It's weirdly hypnotic and you'll want to see just how far he'll go to achieve his self-serving ends.
Ultimately, it's another notch on Gyllenhaal's impressive range of deeply disturbed characters. Don't expect a laugh a minute, side-splitting two hours, just get ready to descend into the underbelly of society and what it takes to get those 'exclusive' pictures on CNN or Sky News.