Nightcrawler (2014)

Now that I am caught up with Dracula Untold, I decided to go a different route with some of my latest flicks. I definitely wanted something realistic, and unsettling. During my trip to Family Video, I found the perfect flick for that; 2014s crime thriller Nightcrawler.

Plot/ Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cutthroat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling - where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents.

Nightcrawler is a film that I had been looking forward to since seeing the trailer for the first time. Now that I have seen it, I want to kick myself for not watching it earlier. This has to be one of the best of 2014, and it is definitely one of the better crime thrillers to come out in some time. From the start, Jake Gyllenhaal's brilliant performance as Lou Bloom made my skin crawl. Honestly, it was a feeling I had not experienced in some time. The scripting works, the storyline interesting, characters engaging, and this cinematography was outstanding; especially considering this was writer/director Dan Gilroy’s debut film. Even more impressive than the positives was the fact that everything fit together in a meticulous way, showing that a ton of care was put into the production. Yes, there were some small flaws, but those were so minor I cannot remember them. In the end, this one was not only atmospheric and dark; it was an entertaining trip into a realistic world many never experience. If you have not seen it, you are missing out. Give it a shot!