Nightcrawler (film)
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Nightcrawler | |
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File:Nightcrawlerfilm.jpg
Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Dan Gilroy |
Produced by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Written by | Dan Gilroy |
Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Music by | James Newton Howard |
Cinematography | Robert Elswit |
Edited by | John Gilroy |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Open Road Films |
Release dates
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Running time
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117 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $8.5 million[2] |
Box office | $50.3 million[3] |
Nightcrawler is a 2014 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a thief who starts shooting live footage of accidents and crimes in Los Angeles, selling the content to local news channels as a stringer while secretly sabotaging both crime scenes and other news reporters. It also features Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed and Bill Paxton.
The film had its world premiere at the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] It was released theatrically by Open Road Films on October 31, 2014.[5] It received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 87th Academy Awards.
Contents
Plot
Caught stealing from a Los Angeles construction site, Louis Bloom is confronted by a security guard. He attacks the guard, steals his watch, and leaves with the stolen material. After selling the material at a scrap yard, Bloom asks for a job there but is rejected.
Driving home, Bloom sees a car crash and pulls over. Stringers—freelance cameramen—arrive and shoot the crash. Inspired, Bloom steals a bicycle and trades it for a camcorder and a radio scanner. That night, Bloom shoots the aftermath of a carjacking. When he moves closer to get a better shot, he and rival stringer Joe Loder are kicked off the crime scene. Bloom eavesdrops on his rival's phone conversation about selling his footage to a news station.
Bloom goes to the same station to sell his footage. He meets the morning news director of the station, Nina Romina. She purchases his footage and tells him of their specific interest in footage of violent incidents with "preferably well-off and white" victims, but only when perpetrated by "the poor or a minority." Bloom hires an assistant, Rick, a young man desperate for money. To give his footage more impact, Bloom begins tampering with crime scenes and in one case moves a body. As Bloom's work gains traction, he buys better equipment and a muscle car.
Bloom takes Nina to dinner and threatens to end his business with her unless she has sex with him. He points out that her job depends on his footage, especially since sweeps week is starting. The next day, he turns down a business offer from Loder to man a second van. Later that night, Loder beats Bloom to an important plane crash story. Nina explodes in anger at Bloom, demanding he get better footage and keep his end of their bargain. Bloom sabotages Loder's van, causing it to crash. Loder is severely injured and Bloom coldly films the aftermath.
Bloom and Rick arrive at the site of an apparent home invasion in an affluent neighborhood before the police. Bloom records gunmen leaving in their SUV and proceeds into the house to film shots of the murder victims. The news staff argue over the ethics of the footage but Nina is eager to break the story. In exchange, Bloom demands public credit, more money, and that Nina be more cooperative with sexual favors.
The next day, the police led by Detective Frontieri, visit Bloom and ask him questions about his whereabouts and his knowledge of the robbery. He gives them edited footage, cutting out the parts with the gunmen. At night, he picks up Rick and tracks down the gunmen using their license plate. He plans to follow them to a more affluent area, then call the police and record the resulting confrontation. Terrified, Rick demands half the money Bloom stands to make, threatening to tell the police about Bloom's crimes. Bloom appears upset, but agrees.
When the gunmen stop at a restaurant, Bloom phones the police and sets up the positions for filming. The police arrive and a shootout ensues. One suspect is killed while the other escapes in his SUV. The police give chase, with Bloom and Rick tailing and recording. After the gunman's SUV crashes, Bloom urges Rick to film the gunman, claiming he is dead. The gunman, who was only wounded, fatally shoots Rick. The gunman tries to escape but is shot by police. Bloom films Rick dying, saying that he cannot work with a partner he doesn't trust.
Nina is awed by the shootout footage and expresses her devotion to Bloom. The news team discovers that the "home invasion" was actually a drug deal gone wrong; Nina omits this information to maximize the story's impact. The police try to confiscate all copies of the footage for evidence but Nina defends her right to air it.
Interrogated by Frontieri, Bloom fabricates a story about the men in the SUV following him. Frontieri suspects he is lying, but cannot prove it. Bloom hires a team of interns and purchases new vans to expand his business.
Cast
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- Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis "Lou" Bloom
- Rene Russo as Nina Romina
- Riz Ahmed as Rick
- Bill Paxton as Joe Loder
- Ann Cusack as Linda
- Kevin Rahm as Frank Kruse
- Kathleen York as Jackie
- Eric Lange as Ace Video Cameraman
- Kiff VandenHeuvel as Editor
- Jonny Coyne as Pawn Shop Owner
- Michael Hyatt as Detective Frontieri
- Michael Papajohn as Security Guard
Various Los Angeles news anchors either appear as themselves, such as KCBS' Pat Harvey and Kent Shocknek, or as lightly fictionalized versions of themselves, such as Sharon Tay, Rick Garcia and Rick Chambers.
Production
Director and screenwriter Dan Gilroy took inspiration from stories of 1930s Crime photographers, and their modern-day equivalents.[6] Gilroy, by his own admission, became "obsessed" with the world of stringers and specifically of its potential for a movie.[7] He initially envisioned something in the same vein as Chinatown but could not come up with anything to his satisfaction;[7] it was only once he decided to focus on an anti hero rather than a hero that the story truly began to take shape.[7] In writing the screenplay Gilroy tried to steer the audience away from labeling Lou as a sociopath, calling it a "reductive label".[6] In the end Gilroy wanted the audience to realize that "that the problem wasn't Lou,... The problem is the world…the society that created Lou and rewards Lou." [6]
Gyllenhaal was the first actor to sign on, in April 2013.[8]
On the commentary track, Dan Gilroy states that Riz Ahmed "beat out probably 75 other people" for the role of Rick.
The film was not one of the 31 projects originally selected by the California Film Tax Credit program June for $100 million in credits via a lottery from 380 applications, but it did receive a $2.3 million allocation.[9] Bill Paxton and Rene Russo signed for the film in September 2013,[10] followed by the casting of Riz Ahmed as Gyllenhaal's "driver and protege".[11] Kevin Rahm joined the cast as a News Channel editor in October 2013.[12] Principal photography began on October 6, 2013 in Los Angeles and lasted 27 days.[13] Gyllenhaal lost Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value). for his role.[14] The full production process took approximately 27 weeks from first shot to picture lock.[15]
Reception
Box office
Nightcrawler opened on October 31, 2014 in 2,766 theaters and grossed $10.4 million, finishing second at the box office behind Ouija ($10.7 million). The film earned $32.4 million in North America and $6.3 million in other territories for a total gross of $38.7 million, against a budget of $8.5 million.[2]
Critical response
Nightcrawler received critical acclaim, with many praising Gyllenhaal's performance and Gilroy's script. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 95%, based on 226 reviews, with a rating average of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Restless, visually sleek, and powered by a lithe star performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler offers dark, thought-provoking thrills."[16] On Metacritic, another review aggregator, the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[18]
Reviewers call Gyllenhaal's character a "charming sociopath" and his performance "a bravura, career-changing tour-de-force."[19][20][21] Christy Lemire of the Chicago Sun-Times called Gyllenhaal's performance "supremely creepy" and praised the film's themes and messages.[22] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic compared Gyllenhaal to a young Robert De Niro and his performances in the films Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, feeling Gyllenhaal's character harbored traits shared by De Niro's characters in the two films. Orr called Gyllenhaal "tremendous" in the role and stated that the actor is learning to "channel an eerie, inner charisma, offering it up in glimpses and glimmers rather than all at once." He also declared the role as Gyllenhaal's "best performance to date."[23] Ben Sachs of the Chicago Reader said, "For a first-time director, Gilroy demonstrates an uncommon assurance, not only in his audacious tonal shifts but in the stellar work he elicits from his cast and crew."[24]
In an article in the literary journal Overland, Nightcrawler is described as "[standing] alongside J. C. Chandor's Margin Call as one of the finest directorial debuts of recent years ... and like Margin Call, it is a highly effective exploration of extreme capitalism and contemporary morality."[25]
Conversely, Richard Roeper gave the movie a C+, calling Gyllenhaal's performance "brilliant", but ultimately saying, "[I] didn't buy the ending and there were just too many broad jabs at the TV news business."
Top ten lists
Nightcrawler was listed on many critics' top ten lists of 2014.[26]
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- 2nd – Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out (New York)
- 3rd – Matt Goldberg, Collider.com
- 3rd – Erik Davis, Movies.com
- 3rd – Yahoo! Movies
- 4th – Nathan Rabin, The Dissolve
- 4th – James Rocchi, TheWrap
- 4th – Edward Douglass, ComingSoon.net
- 5th – Time Out (London)
- 5th – Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter
- 6th – Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly
- 7th – Tom Brook, BBC
- 7th – Richard Corliss, TIME
- 7th – Adam Chitwood, Collider.com
- 8th – Lou Lumenick, New York Post
- 8th – Inkoo King, TheWrap
- 8th – Drew McWeeny, HitFix
- 8th – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
- 8th – Noel Murray, The Dissolve
- 8th – William Bibbiani, CraveOnline
- 8th – Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool News
- 9th – Rafer Guzmán, Newsday
- 9th – Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times
- 10th – Tom Buggermann, Indiewire
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Claudia Puig, USA Today
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Justin Lowe, Indiewire
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Stephen Whitty, The Star-Ledger
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Amy Nicholson, The Village Voice
Accolades
For his performance as Louis "Lou" Bloom, Jake Gyllenhaal received praise from critics, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
References
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External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Nightcrawler (film) |
- Official website
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Nightcrawler at IMDb
- Nightcrawler at AllMovie
- Nightcrawler at Box Office Mojo
- Nightcrawler at Metacritic
- Nightcrawler at Rotten Tomatoes
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- ↑ Biron, D. 2014. Nightcrawler: a moral dilemma of our own making. Overland (online).
- ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2014
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