Haunting journalism violates morality

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2015)

Jake Gyllenhaal makes this alive. He is such an excellent actor, seriously shedding a lot of weight to do this movie. What is left after I walked out of the theater was his bulging eyes blinking like an owl and his chilling smile.
A desperate but fast learner, Luis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) accidentally finds there is a lot of money in crime journalism and invests his time and talent in this line of work, even if it means crossing the line of using other people or violating the basic principles of journalism in checking facts and being objective.
His bulging eyes can be scary sometimes. But what is more disturbing is the way he talks – it is fluent, relevant but strictly business like. The monotone though relatively high pitch is almost like a computer generated business textbook which stress teamwork, communication, striving for excellence and all those BS. He seems to take it very seriously. He is observant and is a fast learner. But he does not have a heart. Or morals. I would not want to be his friend. In fact, he does not seem to have any friends, perhaps because he is so manipulative. I cannot say he is selfish because he was using his business as a shield. But he is sick. Even his smile is haunting. A very strong character development and smooth direction.
It is also appalling to see how sensational some TV news can get. With the advancement in technology, we can easily achieve an abundance of graphic images. But in this process, we seem to have lost sight in in- depth analysis and background research, let alone applying ethics in reporting and checking facts. It is horrifying how some paparazzi type of freelancers are out there doing their job and ruining professional journalism. But that would not have happened if TV stations buy their work. And TV stations would not have bought them if it did not help the ratings. After all, certain type of audience drives certain kind of news. It is disheartening the news director pushes for these graphics which gradually jeopardizes an otherwise would-be tasteful audience. That in turn could shape our society into a heartless mess. Great wake up call.