Rating of
3/4
Louis Bloom - the new Milo Minderbender
Indyfreak - wrote on 03/19/15
Jake Gyllenhaal seems to have finally made the great leap forward as a method actor in the only acceptable form these days: playing an absolute psychopath in the form of the thoroughly reptilian amatuer entrepreneur Louis Bloom. Bloom is a petty thief who by sure force of personality, and an admittedly commendable business acumen, becomes a nightcrawler - a special kind of freelance photographer that records crime scenes that occur at night. In the words of a seasoned pro, the value of the material for news stations to purchase is measured by "if it bleeds it leads".
Gyllenhaal's character is one of those rare down-to-earth megalomaniacs who feels 100% genuine because he's not motivated by world domination but rather the power to bargain and persuade for whatever he wants. And if he can't get it, he makes sure no one else can either. But he knows EXACTLY what people want so he times himself perfectly in his interactions with well-adjusted human beings to always maintain control over them. It's really scary to watch sometimes.
The cast is small (only 3 other major characters out of a total possible cast of 12) and the running time is short (just shy of 2 hours) but it is an unsettlingly entertaining adrenaline rush as we witness Gyllenhaal's introduction and subsequent near domination of Los Angeles once it becomes a near hellish underworld the instant that nightfall settles in.
