Movie Review Nightcrawler

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Spoiler alerts 2014 Nothing to do with the X-Man character of the same name, Nightcrawler is a grim socio-political movie about media exploitation, sensationalism, and consumerism. Jake Gyllenhaal gives an amazingly creepy performance as Lou Bloom, a petty crook turned media ghoul. When he sees freelance reporters (Stringers) getting footage at a car crash site, including shots of the dying passengers, he learns that there is money to make in selling such footage to the media. Bloom uses money gained by stealing a bicycle to get himself a cheap camcorder and a devise for listening on emergency calls and goes into business getting the most graphic images he can of tragic events. A lady reporter, desperate for ratings, buys his footage, and even sleeps with him as an alternative to meeting his demands for more money. Bloom starts interfering with crime scenes and concealing evidence from the police, and setting up criminals so they will die in shoot outs that he is able to set up equipment for filming. he even films his hapless partner dying after getting him shot rather than helping him. Totally plausible and credible look at where much of our photo-journalism comes from. Bloom is as much a monster as Norman Bates and just as sociopathic without directly hurting anyone. He may well be one of the greatest movie villains of all time. Youtube - Michael Jackson Leave Me Alone (about media harrassment) Arthur Chappell