The main character in Nightcrawler is Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal). He is thrown against the wall and thrusted into a new depraved territory. He is a very low level thief where the film opens up with him stealing wire fences so that he can sell for money. Whilst selling materials he makes an impromptu interview with the seller to work for him. Every tip that any one has ever given any one about an interview he takes to heart and creates a crazed caricature of what the perfect interviewee is supposed to be.
After the failed interview, on the freeway he sees a car accident and like a moth to a fire, exits his car to watch the carnage. While there he meets a nightcrawler. Someone who video tapes crimes and crashed during the night while the tv stations union workers sleep at night. He sees them in action and decides that this is a career he could possibly excel in. He steals a bike, sells it, and uses the money to buy a camcorder and police scanner.
On his first night listening to the scanner, he finds a car jacking gone wrong and is able to get pretty good footage. He takes it to a news station where Nina (Rene Russo) buys it from him, and tells him he he has good eye for this sort of carnage.
As the film progresses, so does Lou's business. He tapes more dangerous crimes, and he does whatever he can to make sure he can get amazing footage. Lou soon evolves into a monster that only wants to be bigger and better than when he first started out.
Nightcrawler is one of those films that is a commentary not only on the promotion of violence, but on how the media wants and needs it so it can prosper. Lou also shows what happens when people try their best to such an extent that it becomes vilification.
Watch Nightcrawler. It has some of the best performances from Jake Gyllenhall and Rene Russo in their careers. One of the best third acts of a film that I have ever seen in quite a long time. I give Nightcrawler 5 Extremely Awkward Mexican Restaurant Scenes out of 5.
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