A darkly comic original and exciting masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2014)

This is a very funny, dark, exciting, original satire on the terrible state of voyeuristic headline journalism today. Kudos to director writer Dan Gilroy. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man who captures crimes and accidents and their aftermaths on camera to sell to news channels. There is a 'Breaking Bad' type of very dark humor amidst a morally bankrupt context. There are some very funny scenes with his assistant Rick - the interview and the salary negotiation. So to his "date" with news director (Renee Russo) is quite laugh out loud. The climax is exciting and disturbing at the same time. Jake Gyllenhaal is made up to look particularly ghoulish and gives a spellbinding performance as this anti-hero with few redeeming features. He delivers his originally hilarious lies with the business like terms perfectly. Renee is well cast as the slightly over the hill, big haired, morally questionable news director. I didn't think her look suited romantic roles well in the past but here she has found a good fit for her physical type. This is one of the best and most original movies of the year and deserves accolades in the upcoming award season.