Theater Whore: Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler 5/10

Finally got a chance to check out Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom. This movie was not what I was expecting not in a good way. It is about a crazy ass guy that after being outed as a thief he discovers that he is interested in racing to crime scenes to film footage and turning it in to news stations for money. Another guy who has been doing it for a while gives him some tips so he gets a police scanner and starts chasing action when it happens.

A news station is happy with the stuff he gets. He hires an assistant named Rick and gets to scenes sometimes just as the police do and even before in some cases. His stuff gets ratings and he is insane so it works out for everyone. His assistant knows that the stuff they do is wrong but Lou talks him out of quitting or stopping each time.

Lou starts messing with crime scenes for better shots. He gets a better camera and muscle car to get places faster. He ends up getting to a murder before the crime is even reported and takes it to the station. They aren't even sure if they should air the shit but they do. The broadcasters start questioning where the footage came from and the legality of it on air. After a commercial break they are told to make it seem legit.

Lou gets worse at his treatment of everyone he works with and the crimes he films going so far as to start them. I thought this movie would be creepy but it turns out that he is just a creep. While it has good actors the way they act seems like a TV show. It felt like no one really had any direction.

It was also longer than it needed to be. There was no hero in this and I expected that when the police got involved that they would have some effect but they didn't. This guy was so untouchable that if he decided to go into any other line of work he would have been rich. I think there is an over-saturation of movies and shows with asshole type people that just get away with crime and it is old now. This movie had no moments that made me feel much. It just happened.

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