The Best Film of 2014!

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2015)

Lou Bloom is a creepy sociopath! That is the lead in this freaky L.A. noir about a thief who becomes a leech who shoots grisly crime scenes for quick money. Gyllenhaal is fully committed to this part, completely throwing himself into it.
But, the real star is ace cinematographer Robert Elswit, who very deservedly won an Oscar for "There Will Be Blood." He captures L.A. at night and the seedy goings-on so beautifully, there are so many shots that come across as paintings. Very impressive, and easily the best cinematography of 2014!
Renee Russo is the powerful local TV producer whose lust for death and destruction might be even more frightening than Gyllenhaal's! She does cold very well.
This is the kind of film that is so visceral and exciting that it gives you chills just watching it! Even James Newton Howard's score is good! And, he's a guy I think sleepwalks through a great many of the films he provides music for.
You know that you are watching something deeply and gruesomely satiric when you are laughing out loud at the deeply cutting lines being delivered by people like Gyllenhaal and Russo!
Great stuff, and now, THIS is my favorite film of 2014! A worthy runner-up to one of my favorite films of all time, 1976's "Network."
********** (10 Out of 10 Stars)