Nightcrawler: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou (Jake Gyllenhaal) muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling – where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina (Rene Russo), a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
Gyllenhaal has done great at picking roles that are fairly unconventional and sometimes intense. His role in this film is most definitely both. The way the story unfolded was completely unpredictable to me and I couldn’t help but keep wondering when everything was going to turn upside down. Gyllenhaal is fantastic at what he does and the way he can “flip the switch” at anytime makes for a compelling cinematic experience. There was a great transformation physically as well as acting wise which had me glued to the screen the entire time. His character has this way of being so manipulative yet somewhat weirdly intimidating because of his intensity. To say that I was on the edge of my seat was an understatement and to have it be snubbed at the Academy Awards was a travesty. No, seriously, I threw a chair……Ok, I just knocked over a salt shaker. This is some of Gyllenhaal’s best work and this film is one of the best thrillers of 2014 without a doubt. You owe it to yourself to watch this rollercoaster of a film and see just what acting is all about.
Special Features:
Feature Commentary With Writer/director Dan Gilroy, Producer Tony Gilroy and Editor John Gilroy
If It Bleeds, It Leads: Making Nightcrawler – A really brief Behind The Scenes feature that includes interviews from the cast and crew.
