Nightcrawler (2014)

Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy (Bourne Legacy)
Starring: 
Jake Gyllenhaal (Source Code)
Riz Ahmed (Four Lions)
Rene Russo (Thor)
Bill Paxton (Edge of Tomorrow)

In the mud of Marvel congestion and superhero saturation, it's a risky maneuver to title a film the same name as a well known mutant but alas, here we are. So then the question becomes, how does a movie get over this disadvantage. A 94% tomatometer rating? Absolutely. An sinister, zoned in Jake Gyllenhaal finally showing his true talents? And we're off.

Gyllenhaal comes full force, fresh off another great performance in Enemy (2014), he gives life to a vile creature we never knew we needed to witness. His skeletal frame under sleek, greasy hair and that soulless bugeyed stare are magical. He completely dives into the character of Lou Bloom and it is terrifying. Riz Ahmed brings a strong presence to the screen as well as the tag along to Gyllenhaal's nightcrawling leach. Paxton is again a gratifying screen hog but he basically plays the same character he is in everything recently. You either like him or you don't by this point. This is also Paxton's second consecutive film to be at 90% or higher after Edge of Tomorrow so we can safely conclude that critics love him. Rene Russo does bring a little fire to her shared scenes with Lou Bloom but it all starts with Jake. His performance fuels this whole movie.

The story is as uninteresting as the trailer suggests, unless you're in to all that media nonsense, I mean, who even watches the news these days, probably people who would not enjoy this movie. That's the razor thin line that is walked. That's how good the performances are, that despite the lack of a feel good story, the absence of any true root-forable protagonist, we still feel a corrupted rush of wanting to know what will happen. Gilroy manages to add in a couple of snazy stylized sequences leaving the finished product to be a definite good movie. Not great, but certainly memorable and weirdly worthy of that RT score.

8 out of 10