
PopGap #01: Nightcrawler (2014)
Written by dorrk | 30 January 2015 |
Movies of the 2010s: #20 of 20
The final movie of this inaugural PopGap month is one I would have watched this week anyway, as I've been greedily anticipating its release on VOD this week. I do feel like a bit of a cheat with the theme for this month's PopGap: the Top Movies I've Missed from This Decade So Far. While the point of PopGap is to force me to watch movies I've been avoiding for one reason or another, a handful from this month are virtually brand new — Boyhood, Gone Girl, and now Nightcrawler, were released to home video just this month; and I took a rare trip to the cinema to watch Interstellar — and would have been watchlist priorities for me if PopGap didn't exist. But I make the rules around here, and I do things the way I want. Maybe it's unethical, but it doesn't make me a bad guy. No one got hurt. I'm just doing what I'm good at. And I would never ask you to do something that I wouldn't do myself.
Nightcrawler is one of the best movies I've watched for this month's project. It's a riveting glimpse at a character who discovers and aggressively pursues a vocation in which his alienating, anti-social tendencies can thrive and grow.
Jake Gyllenhall gives his best performance yet as Louis Bloom, an odd, intense fellow whose peculiar, graceless determination makes him less-than-appealing to prospective employers. He sets out on his own as a freelance news gatherer, racing to accident and crime scenes and documenting the carnage for local television news producers. It's a nasty, cutthroat business, but Louis adapts to it quickly and learns that one of his personality traits (you might call it sociopathy) gives him a leg-up in both selling his footage and dealing with the competition.
While commentary elucidating the cynicism and callousness of local new coverage is old-hat, writer/director Dan Gilroy doesn't dwell on that aspect of his story. It serves as a vivid and unsavory milieu for a fascinating character study that is terrific from beginning to end. As his name unsubtly suggests, Louis does indeed bloom from an awkward, skeevy ne'er-do-well into a full-blown scumbag with mastery of his devious craft.
Nightcrawler is a fun, unsettling, visceral and compelling journey and one of the best movies of 2014.
Trailer for Nightcrawler (2014)
TL/DR
-
Movie:Nightcrawler (2014)
-
Dir.:Dan Gilroy
-
Rating:8/10
Tags
Related Articles
Latest Articles
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 03. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 02. Hellzapoppin' (1941)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 01. The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 05. The Hippopotamus (2017)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 04. My Life as a Zucchini (2016)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 03. Me and Orson Welles (2009)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 02. Red Road (2006)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 01. The Warrior (2001)
POPGAP Projects
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: The 28 best films of all time you've probably never seen
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022 is all Oct-Over now, Baby Blue
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022
-
Silver Screen Streak List #21: Dramas of the 1940s
-
Popgap Diary: 2021 in Review
-
Silver Screen Streak List #20: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2021 is in the cold, cold ground
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2021
Popular Articles
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2019
-
Introducing the Silver Screen Streak movie challenge
-
Octoblur 2017: Annual Horror-ish Movie Nightmare-a-thon
-
PopGap #08 Re-cap: Comedies Since 1970
-
Octoblur 2017: R.I.P.!
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2020
-
Octoblur 2015 - It's Over!
-
PopGap #19: Movie Books Special Report
-
Popgap Diary: 2019 in Review