Desperation and moral depravity,

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2015)

Gyllenhaal either made this character his own, or it was written for him. He is perfect as the deranged "nightcrawler", and I'm sure the movie would not have worked as well without him.
This movie deals with situations of a graphic nature - however nothing worse than what you can see on certain crime shows or other movies. However, by showing it indirectly - as a news broadcast, or through a camera, it feels more real, and you feel guilty for watching it. The attraction of sex and violence.
I am not American, and not used to American-style news, so for me this felt all a bit exaggerated (and it very well may be). The media situation portrayed in the movie is one spiraling downwards, and hopefully reality is not that bleak.
In addition to the graphic content mentioned earlier, the movie is also interesting in what it does not show. There is talk of blood on a character's shirt, but it is never shown. The same with sexual encounters that are mentioned, but not shown. This fits well into the above mentioned theme of the movie.
In the focus of this movie is interplay between desperation and moral depravity. Lou's character is not brave, his sense of moral is missing. Through him, the desperate (the two other main characters) try to solve their own problems. Doing this, allowing Lou to continue his work, corrupts them morally - but it helps solving their problems.
My main objection I guess would be that it's hard to how Lou ended up where he is in the beginning of the movie. Some hints are dropped at how he spent his time, but he "learns so quickly" that it's hard to believe he would be at the point the movie opens on.