What a great actor Jake Gyllenhaal has turned out to be. For Nightcrawler, Jake lost 10 pounds to play his part and shows off his acting skills as he plays a dark, sinister character who is willing to do anything to be the best at what he does. It’s a whole, different style of paparazzi we never think about. A Nightcrawler goes way beyond paparazzi status because they don’t just film celebrities. They film anything that interest the public and sells it to the highest bidder. That means crime, accidents, fires and whatever shows pain and suffering when you are most vulnerable. It seems the more privacy laws in affect, the less privacy we actually have. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom to perfection. He was down right creepy. Rene Russo plays Nina, the News Director of the night crew of the LA TV station where Lou sells his videos. Bill Paxton plays Joe Loder, another Nightcrawler with a better character. Riz Ahmed plays Rick, Lou’s apprentice. Nightcrawler is a thriller that’s well directed, well acted and has a plot that’s different enough to lead the pack in entertainment. Of all the movies out right now, you’ll find this a refreshing change of pace.
[NIGHTCRAWLER is nominated for Original Screenplay (Writing)]
I was terribly disappointed in this movie. I expected a great film instead I got a mediocre, unrealistic drama. The best thing about this movie was the absolutely gorgeous creature (Liam Hemsworth) cast in the role of Adam Cassidy. Not even the lovely Amber Heard could hold a candle to this beautiful hunk of a man. I found his looks so distracting that focusing on the plot became difficult. Gary Oldman did the best he could with his character (Nicolas Wyatt) as did Harrison Ford who played (Jock Goddard), the jilted CEO who became a rival of his former employee. There’s plenty of threats thrown around and the pawn in the middle, of course, is Adam, who was sort of forced into espionage and deception. Eventually he gets in too deep to just walk away. I felt the characters could have been stronger and the means to the end was a little corny.
CAROL's WORLDS 