Nightcrawler

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2015)

The directorial debut by writer Dan Gilroy (Real Steel, The Bourne Legacy) is one I knew was getting around during awards season, and it was getting fantastic ratings, so I was definitely not going to miss out on seeing it. Basically Louis Bloom (BAFTA nominated Jake Gyllenhaal) is a thief and hustler in Los Angeles, he makes a living selling stolen steel, bronze and copper - wire and fencing, anything he can get his hands on, he wants to make a change and is seeking a job, but no one will give him a chance. One day while driving home he witnesses a car crash and sees a freelance cameraman, also known as a "stringer", arriving to film the accident, inspired by this he steals a racing bicycle to trade it for a camcorder and a radio scanner, to listen to police frequencies. That night Bloom captures the aftermath of a carjacking, moving closer to the victim for a better shot he and a rival cameraman are kicked off the crime scene, but he manages to overhear about how to sell his footage to a news station. At the station Bloom meets local TV morning news director Nina Romina (BAFTA nominated Rene Russo), she agrees to buy the footage, she says it is good, she tells him the station is most interested in footage of violent incidents. Bloom driven by this advice plans to find more crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem to shoot, this is called "nightcrawling", he finds young man Rick (Four Lions' Riz Ahmed), who is desperate for money, he hires him as his assistant, to direct him to reported locations, but his rival Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), who has better equipment, beats him to several important stories. Bloom trying to get the best shots possible tampers with some crime scenes, even moving a body in one case, his work gains traction and he is able to buy better equipment. Bloom takes Nina to dinner, threatening to end his business with her unless she has sex with him, knowing her jobs depends on him supplying footage, Bloom also turns down a business offer from Loder. Nina explodes in anger when Bloom misses out on an important plane crash story, she demands better footage to keep up his end of the bargain, so Bloom sabotages Loder's van, causing it to crash and create severe injuries, including to Loder himself, and he arrives at the scene to film Loder as he is taken to hospital. One night while driving in affluent neighbourhood Bloom and Rick happen upon a home invasion, arriving before the police; Bloom records footage of the gunmen leaving in their SUV, then of the murdered victims in the house, he takes the footage to the station, there is fretting over the ethics of the footage, but Nina is eager to break the story, in exchange, Bloom wants a credit for his business, he calls Video Production News, and more money. The next day detectives question Bloom about his knowledge of the robbery, they ask him for his footage, he gives them an edited tape, withholding the footage identifying the gunmen or their vehicle, that night Bloom tells his plan to Rick, he plans to stake out the gunmen and follow them to a more affluent area. Rick is scared and demands half of the money he makes, threatening to tell police of Bloom's actions, Bloom agrees, but demands Rick to film a second angle, he refuses until Bloom threatens violence on him. The gunmen have stopped at a restaurant, Bloom calls the police to arrest the men, they arrive and within moments gunfire starts, one of the suspects is killed while the other escapes, the police chase and Bloom in his sporty Challenger SRT8 392 tails, with Rick recording. The gunman's SUV crashes, Bloom urges Rick to film the suspect, the gunman was not dead like Bloom claimed, merely wounded, he shoots Rick and tries to escape, he is shot by the police, Rick lies dying, Bloom films him and tells him he cannot work with anyone he does not trust. Nina is in awe of Bloom and expresses her devotion when shown his footage, the "home invasion" the news station discover was in fact a drug deal that went wrong, to make an impact Nina omits this information, the police try to confiscate the footage as evidence, but Nina defends her right to withhold it as property of the station. Bloom is interrogated by police Detective Fronteiri (Michael Hyatt), she is sure he is lying when he fabricates a story that the men in the SUV were following him, there is no evidence that can prove his is lying, in the end Bloom has hired a team of interns and vans to the expand Video Production News business. Also starring Kevin Rahm as Frank Kruse, Price Carson as Detective Lieberman, Ann Cusack as Linda and Kathleen York as Jackie. Gyllenhaal is superb as the cynical, smart, calculating and perhaps sociopathic thief turned video journalist, who will go to extremes to get the best footage of breaking news, Russo is also splendid as the TV station manager equally ruthless to get the ratings, this is a fascinating anti-hero character study and a modern morality tale, it is not just the horrific car crashes, homicides and shoot-outs that will shock you, it is the dark cut-throat corporate culture bringing it to life, a brilliantly entertaining neo-noir crime drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. Very, very good!