Movie spoiled by Jake Gyllenhaal's emaciation by starvation.

Rating: 1/10 (22 February 2015)

I think of all the reviews I've done in many forums, this is the 2nd movie I have given a 1 star rating to. They don't allow zero.
The main character, Louis Bloom played by Jake Gyllenhaal is creepy, but not in a scary way, but more in a full on crack addict kinda way (totally not a good look unless he was supposed to be a junkie, which he wasn't). The incredible weight loss is not something a celebrity of his stature should ever do especially since so many young teens/people look up to him. He lost between 30 and 40 pounds for this character he plays - he is emaciated and even his co-stars said he was literally starving on set, which is exactly how he lost all the weight - by starving himself and basically only eating kale, bowls of gourmet chewing gum and running/biking 10-15 miles a day to the set. So he didn't even do this in a healthy way, though there is no healthy way to emaciate oneself without putting your health at serious risk. He was a liability throughout the movie.
I suspect that his vacuous staring for a good part of the movie was more due to the lack of food and low blood sugar than acting. I'd like to know how often he actually passed out or lost his lines due to this radical weight loss and starvation mode he was in during filming. Shame on you Mr Gyllenhaal. He is extremely lucky to even be alive, as he easily could have succumbed to a heart attack or even a stroke.
Rene Russo who played the lead female, Nina Romina (listed 22 down the credits list I might add) looked not like an aging nighttime news director near the end of her career as an aging Madam from the 80's with the way her eye makeup and hair was done! I got the feeling scenes had been cut with her in them, which ended up with her not having enough screen time to let her character out, especially since there was supposed to have been at least a one night relationship with Louis in the 2nd half of the movie - none of which we see.
The story overall was fairly realistic, sadly. We all know reporters and the likes get excessively drastic to compete - look at what happened with Princess Di as an example. A tradition that has been around far too long and continues to grow. I've always hated this type of reporting as feel the reporters are like hyenas and have no right infringing on peoples privacy, especially when it's of a criminal nature.
To me, a movie that is superb is one I want to see again and I will enjoy it as much if not more than the first viewing. However with this movie I have no desire to even see the trailer again, let alone this movie.