Nightcrawler movie review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic reviews....

Nightcrawler is a neo-noir thriller following Lou Bloom, who, while searching for a job, stumbles into the dark underground world of freelance crime journalism and night news, primarily crime news. As the film progresses he begins to become a little to involved with his job. The film is the directorial debut of Dan Gilroy. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, as well as Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo, and Bill Paxton.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

First off, I absolutely have to talk about Jake Gyllenhaals performance in this movie. This guy has been on a roll recently, with films like Prisoners, Enemy, and now Nightcrawler has confirmed two things. One, Jake Gyllenhaal absolutely deserves an Oscar, seeing how many times he's been snubbed now (don't even get me started on Donnie Darko). And two, this guy can play a sociopath, and play it well. His character is one of those characters who can talk his way out of almost anything, except behind that he's pretty much a psychopath. This is by far one of Gyllenhaals most well written and most well acted roles in his entire career.

Jake Gyllenhaal & Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler 

As well as great acting, this film also features some beautiful shots, and a really stylish cinematography. There was never a moment where the cinematography felt lazy, or felt like it was easier. It always felt like the director was putting a lot of effort into the shots, and into filming the movie. Along with its cinematography, this film also has a great soundtrack, which keeps the film engaging even during scenes which would have been considered slow moments in any other film.

Nightcrawlers strongest suit however is its script. First of all, the story is very fluid, and moves at a great pace to keep the plot going. Most scenes in this movie would slow down the pace, but this movie doesn't have that. The film also runs for what feels like exactly how long it should've ran, it never feels like it dragged on too long or cut itself to short. Another great part of the written aspect of this movie is its dialogue, which is also fantastic. The dialogue here is not only realistic and believable, but also stylish like the kind of dialogue in a  noire film, like Drive. Normally, these two styles of dialogue don't mix (or at least, not well), but here it's done to perfection. If there's anything this absolutely has to be nominated for at the Oscars, its best original screenplay.

Final Rating
Nightcrawler is an outstanding film, far exceeding my expectations, which were already pretty high. Jake Gyllenhaal gives an Oscar worthy performance, the cinematography and shots are beautiful, the soundtrack is engaging, the story is fluid and seamless, and the dialogue is a near-perfect example of dialogue in films. Nightcrawler is by far one of the best movies of the year, certainly a contender for my top five, and I think everyone should go see this movie as soon as possible.

Nightcrawler: 4.7/5