The lights are all in Jake Gyllenhaal's (very scary) eyes in Nightcrawler

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2015)

Screenwriter Dan Gilroy was clearly influenced by the Protagonists Travis Bickle, Rupert Pimpkin, the Bad Lieutenant and real-life entrepreneurs in the making of this film. Lou Bloom's psychotic, wide-eyed, single tracked ambition for success is materialised by Jake Gyllenhaal's visceral, cunning performance. Most of this review is going to be praising the performance of Jake, because he's an actor I do really love. He's a character actor ultimately, who still does have lead actor charisma and sex appeal, and his Lou is as natural as he is constructed. The weight loss is an obvious construct (an idea that supposedly was all Gyllenhaal's), as it makes him look like a ghoulish, haunting figure of the night that's looking for the next kill or something along those lines, but his charm (albeit superficial) grows across the film. His emotional journey is one where he implements himself into the business and establishes himself as a leader, doing something few others can and become his own boss, as well as portray a brutal rise that few films portray as well as this. I'd go as far as to say this is his greatest performance to date, and the fact he went without being nominated at the Oscars is an insult.
Other things to say about the film is how much like LA it feels; its very flashy, very location heavy, very media-centric. Because Lou is written to have grown-up in LA, it makes sense that the film plays these themes out with Lou, and also his Protégé Rick, competition Joe Loder and 'love interest' Nina. The films themes come through because of the soundtrack which is very high-octane and based in the electrical sphere.
Other positives to give this movie that I feel a great amount for is that this film, being a family affair, plays greatly to the strengths of Tony Gilroy as producer, John Gilroy as editor, and Nina Russo (Dan's wife) as actress; production and editing make this movie shine in the night, and the chase scene between the films "bad guys", the police and Video Production News is so tightly shot and edited, its almost amazing the movie cost the amount it did - you'd think it be at least twice as much as that. And Nina, played by Russo, grounds the film in a place where she is both authoritative but vulnerable to Lou as he forces himself on her - both in business and in sex - and how she makes decisions based on Lou's articulate, rapid analyses.
Nightcrawler is a great independent film that shows off the city in ways that movies like Collateral, Midnight Cowboy, Training Day did, but this does whilst adding a commercialised, business-like message that sets it apart. Give it a watch, it's really worth it.