NIGHTCRAWLER (A)

Bottom Line: Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of the year’s most mesmerizing performances in this giddily gory and gorgeously grimy gallop through the labyrinthian, after hours, crime-ridden streets of Los Angeles – as well as the dimly lit, stress tank production bays of local TV news.  Crime never pays… Unless of course you have a video camera and a police scanner.  Then it can pay handsomely.  All you have to do is arrive on the scene first and get the best coverage.  If it bleeds it leads – and anxious, ratings riddled news producer, Rene Russo (in a solid turn; also, still not ugly), is all too ready to get the scoop, save her job and push her integrity and ethics to the side.  NIGHTCRAWLER is a fiendishly fun and pulse-poundingly rich ride through these morally bankrupt worlds – and Gyllenhaal shines as the aggressively overbearing, self-motivating, pseudo-intellectual sociopath in search of his secret to success.  If you want to win the lottery you have to make the money to buy a ticket he goofishly and methodically pronounces!  This slick and seedy, noir-ish flick works as some sort of deadpan drama/action/comedy/thriller hybrid – something that moves at a breakneck, full throttle pace and yet still takes its time, meticulously unfolding for the city slicking rubberneckers to catch a good glimpse.  Thoroughly suspenseful, fully riveting.  A must see!

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo and Bill Paxton

Directed by: Dan Gilroy (directorial debut; wrote the screenplays for THE BOURNE LEGACY and REAL STEEL)

Rated: R

Running time: 117 minutes

Studio description: Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling -- where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Rene Russo as Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives. In the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he becomes the star of his own story. (c) Open Road

Official site: www.nightcrawlerfilm.com