Give the guy an Academy Award, finally.

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2014)

Pretty much as good as it gets. I was at once compelled to look at and be repelled by Jake Gyllenhaal's character - a sociopath - and Los Angeles' representation of a city crawling with pathologies. The photography seemed to demonstrate the city L.A. itself as simply an onlooker, just a witness of crazed traffic and social indifference. Gyllenhaal is certainly one of the best of the young contemporary actors - Edward Norton, Johnny Depp, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a few others. Never disappointed in what they do, even if the film is of less significance. From the start you have, at least in a few scenes, a sense of where this is going, perhaps a bit more than necessary - I'm not keen on figuring out in advance what might be happening next. But the sheer audacity and sociopathy of his character is riveting. I've rarely seen him - but Brokeback Mountain was enough in and of itself to warrant him acclaim. Rene Russo is always interesting to see and she has moved into her older years beautifully. As his hapless "associate", Riz Ahmed may very likely find his way to the slim list of excellent actors. Too, Kevin Rahm, who appeared as a gay neighbor in Desperate Housewives and as Russo's cohort here, one of the conscientious few, showed in the few scenes he was in, a talent to disarm. When I left the theater - a very respectful, large audience - I wanted to go right home and take a shower, as if I could wash out of my mind the wantonness of the cast of characters we don't only witness but we play.