Cinematic approach and Gyllenhaal's performance not enough to save this debacle

Rating: 2/10 (13 November 2014)

Although visually gripping at times, Nightcrawler lacks any real depth in story, character development, tone, and believability. Gyllenhaal's portrayal of a sociopath, Lou Bloom, is pleasantly eerie, and worthy of recognition by audiences. However, Lou is not your typical anti-hero, in that he has no redeeming qualities, and therefore, we cannot root for him or feel any empathy. Lou is somewhat destitute in Act 1, a petty thief who scrapes by. His "big break" comes when he is able to steal a bike and barter it for a "video" camera. Soon, he discovers a hidden talent: the ability to successfully arrive at accident scenes before other "nightcrawlers" and film gory footage. He sells his footage the only way he knows how; by bombarding a local news station and convincing Nina, the news director during the graveyard shift, played by Rene Russo, that his work is truly "art" and worth air time. And this is one sloppy metaphor and/or commentary on current broadcast journalism that Nightcrawler tries to hammer into your head. We have lost any semblance of decency as a TV viewing nation, that capturing video of accident victims bleeding or dying is fascinating and seen as art rather than tragedy. From here, Lou's business expands and he hires Rick, an unemployed, uninteresting guy with zero skills, to be his intern. This is all we need to know about Rick. To push the story along, the filmmakers decide to use an 80s style montage during which Lou and Rick buy fancier equipment, a new car, and develop an increased passion in nightcrawling. Though their business is expanding, Lou continues to freelance and sell his footage to Nina, and only Nina by directly handing her his videos in person. Feels like this was written to be made in the late 1980s. The film aims to be tense and story driven. Instead they interject comedy at inopportune moments, and lose a real chance to delve deeper into a potentially fascinating character study. The writing is sloppy and the characters are one dimensional. Lou's ability to interfere with active crime scenes, google search license plates, and cut the brakes of a rival's van (a tired and lazy movie trope)are all too convenient and without any conflict. Not stylistically aesthetic enough to be strictly a visual movie, such as the Ryan Gosling film, Drive, Nightcrawler just fails to deliver any story or message of substance.