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Nightcrawler happened to be one of my most anticipated films of 2014, claimed by reviewers to feature THE Jake Gyllenhaal performance and as with all significant hype, comes disappointment, that’s to be expected but even without all the ravings and praises, Nightcrawler still isn’t that good of a film.
I mean it’s okay but hardly anything great like critics will have you believe, Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is the focal point of the film’s praises but the problem I had with it and what stopped it from reaching the level of greatness presented in similar films like The King of Comedy was its clear-cut obviousness, Louis Bloom’s constant thousand yard stares, eye-ball pops and diatribes aren’t subtle. The latter is unbelievable for someone who supposedly doesn’t have any prior formal education, hearing Louis Bloom rant on about workmanship, goals and business made me feel like I was watching some biopic about a wise rich guy. The nazely voice didn’t help matters either, the faults are both in the written and execution aspect of the dialogue. There’s way too many speeches for a film that prides itself on producing a defining performance, I can think of at least five Jake Gyllenhaal performances which are better (Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, The Good Girl, Enemy and Donnie Darko)
The side characters are mostly underdeveloped, Rick (Louis Bloom’s partner) and Nina (News Reporter) are the only ones we have competent insight on. I didn’t find either particularly interesting, Rick’s stupidity was used as a platform for Louis’ diatribes and Nina was okay, admittedly her fetish for violence grew tiresome after awhile. The ending gave me black comedy feels, maybe this will end up like American Psycho and become a comedy overtime (somehow).
Nightcrawler’s concept is packed with potential up to the high heavens but an unsubtle main performance, superficial/uninteresting characters and rambling dialogue make for lacklustre execution and a huge disappointment overall.
Review #19 - Nightcrawler:
(Dan Gilroy, 2014)
(Dan Gilroy, 2014)
Nightcrawler happened to be one of my most anticipated films of 2014, claimed by reviewers to feature THE Jake Gyllenhaal performance and as with all significant hype, comes disappointment, that’s to be expected but even without all the ravings and praises, Nightcrawler still isn’t that good of a film.
I mean it’s okay but hardly anything great like critics will have you believe, Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is the focal point of the film’s praises but the problem I had with it and what stopped it from reaching the level of greatness presented in similar films like The King of Comedy was its clear-cut obviousness, Louis Bloom’s constant thousand yard stares, eye-ball pops and diatribes aren’t subtle. The latter is unbelievable for someone who supposedly doesn’t have any prior formal education, hearing Louis Bloom rant on about workmanship, goals and business made me feel like I was watching some biopic about a wise rich guy. The nazely voice didn’t help matters either, the faults are both in the written and execution aspect of the dialogue. There’s way too many speeches for a film that prides itself on producing a defining performance, I can think of at least five Jake Gyllenhaal performances which are better (Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, The Good Girl, Enemy and Donnie Darko)
The side characters are mostly underdeveloped, Rick (Louis Bloom’s partner) and Nina (News Reporter) are the only ones we have competent insight on. I didn’t find either particularly interesting, Rick’s stupidity was used as a platform for Louis’ diatribes and Nina was okay, admittedly her fetish for violence grew tiresome after awhile. The ending gave me black comedy feels, maybe this will end up like American Psycho and become a comedy overtime (somehow).
Nightcrawler’s concept is packed with potential up to the high heavens but an unsubtle main performance, superficial/uninteresting characters and rambling dialogue make for lacklustre execution and a huge disappointment overall.