Nightcrawler is currently sitting pretty high, at 8.4 on IMDB and 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Whether you like it or not might depend on just how cynical you are about local news. The movie reminds me somewhat of an update on the classic Network, one of my all time favorites. In this story, TV news is partial truth and which part of the truth you see depends on what the show runner thinks will generate viewer interest, urban paranoia and convince them to check out the news tomorrow. Into this quagmire comes Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a low life scavenger who stumbles into the “profession” of Nightcrawlers, free lance news videographers who stalk police and crime scenes, looking for lurid close-ups that can be sold to TV news broadcasters.
Bloom is a twisted SOB, played with chilling strangeness by Gyllenhaal. He has a strange, monotone voice, a guy who knows how to manipulate people, knows exactly what he needs to say in order to get what he wants, but also a guy who has absolutely no moral bottom line and no empathy for anybody; a classic sociopath. When he arrives early to several crime scenes, he sells the video Nina Romina (Rene Russo), a new show producer, who is nearly as value-free as Bloom, but even more desperate for sleazy news stories. This TV trash takes an even darker turn when Bloom and his naive employee manage to catch detailed shots of a triple homicide in a rich LA neighborhood before the police arrive. The footage comes to the interest of not just the TV news, but also the Los Angeles police. What they don’t know it that Bloom has additional footage that allows him to identify the perpetrators. Bloom chases down the killers and finds himself in the middle of a deadly series of events.
We all want to think that in a just universe, scum like Louis Bloom get their comeuppance, but since it is not always a just universe, things can turn out differently. When this movie was over, I thought part of it was missing. It seemed to beg for an extra 45 minutes, though probably not a Nightcrawler II. I looked for more resolution, some reason to think that TV news is not really that bad and that people like Louis don’t really exist, but the script isn’t that merciful. I don’t watch much TV news so I don’t know if it really is as degraded as in this movie, but there’s enough that rings true to make this movie really arouse one’s moral outrage. Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing in this role, full of nervous energy and self-interest, a misfit who will do anything to get ahead. Rene Russo is also quite good, on the one hand nearly as valueless as Louis, but also blinded by the ambition to bring higher ratings to her last placed news broadcast. I hope that news broadcasters and their cast of sycophants are not really the bottom feeders portrayed in this movie, but it’s hard to deny that, like in Network (I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!!!), nearly 40 years ago, this movie doesn’t make us feel well informed or morally centered. I’m not quite sure about a 91%, but this is definitely an interesting movie.
