Riveting Thriller With a Message

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2016)

In a remarkable performance, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou, an assertive ambulance chaser, locating scenes of violent crimes, filming the grisly scenes, and selling his footage to a Los Angeles news studio.
The film charts the meteoric rise of a petty thief to a successful entrepreneur in video journalism. Gyllenhaal is joined by the equally effective Rene Russo, who plays the television news director who becomes overly invested in acquiring Lou's graphic film clips.
The degree of sleaze apparent in both characters offers a fascinating social commentary on the degree to which news bureaus will stop at nothing to raise network ratings through the purveyance of lurid, tabloid stories.
A successful news figure, Russo's character is depicted as part of the same mercenary mindset as Lou. The film even develops a bizarre personal compact between the two characters that implies a kind of sexual blackmail in their relationship.
The direction of the film was superb with fascinating camera angles, set-ups, and location footage in Los Angeles. While the action scenes were impressive, it stretched credibility to see the streets devoid of traffic. No street in L.A. was as deserted as depicted in the film, even for nightcrawlers.