Nightcrawler is a ‘media thriller’, set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. 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 car 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 Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. He does give honest living a try, but when he fails to secure a normal job, he leans towards the completely amoral side of his psyche and hones it to perfection.

Jake Gyllenhaal (highly appreciated in End of Watch, Prisoners and Enemy) turns out what might well be accepted as his best performance till date. Every look, every pause, every smirk, every sneer, every researched, sarcastic, self-help quote that he throws out as a ready reckoner, makes you want to applaud. Gyllenhaal lost over 20 pounds and even punched a mirror so hard during one take that he required stitches. He defines his character Louis (Lou) Bloom as “…not just a three-dimensional character. He’s a six-dimensional character. He’s so well-prepared, he’s like the Bobby Fischer of manipulators. I think anyone who has been fed the capitalist idea of what success is--financial success, fame, and attention--has a Lou in them.”

Nightcrawler is as much an outsider film as it is an insider’s look at the TV news industry. Those of you who have read about William Randolph Hearst and his principle of creating news, and Naom Chomsky’s expose on how America manufactures consent, will find another thought provoking dimension here. Is omission as bad as commission? Is with-holding, with apparently justifiable reasons, as punishable a crime as committing the crime itself? 

Dan’s wife of over 21 years, Rene Russo (60), plays Nina with élan and conviction. The scenes featuring Jake and Nina are lessons in action-reaction, steely poker and frozen fear. Watch out for Riz Ahmed (a.k.a. Riz MC) as Rick, Lou’s ‘intern’, who is exploited in styles unimaginable. Though Gyllenhaal is brilliant, Ahmed does not deserve to be overshadowed. The actor and rapper, of Pakistani decent, studied acting at Central School of Speech & Drama, London, and had made his film debut in The Road to Guantánamo. At the same time, he was getting famous as the rapper Riz MC. The terrorist spoof Four Lions got him attention. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, directed by Mira Nair, was 10th film, and he put up a strong show.

Bill Paxton as the veteran Nightcrawler who inspires a jealous and extremely greedy Lou to get into the business, hits the right chords. Michael Hyatt (odd name for a woman) plays Detective Frontieri. In what should have been a small, inconsequential role, she adds commendable reality. (Hyatt has appeared in The Good Girl, Washington Heights, Crazylove, Acts of Worship and Two Weeks). Real-life Los Angeles TV journalists--Pat Harvey, Sharon Tay, Rick Garcia and Bill Seward--have featured roles. Considering the film shows the ratings obsessed TV industry in such bad light, it makes you wonder whether they were aware of the thrust of the film before they agreed to play their parts.

Screenplay writer and director Dan Gilroy, like his older brother Tony, has spent years working in Hollywood as a screenwriter, in movies like Real Steel and The Bourne Legacy. Nightcrawler is quite a Gilroy family affair. Dan’s brother Tony is one of the 10 producers (Jake is another), while John Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy, Warrior) is the editor.

Dan’s script is one of the best examples of a taut and well-guided screenplay in recent times. Except for some of the co-incidences and the unobstructed, hurdle-less smooth-sailing that Lou enjoys in executing his ghoulish plans, there are hardly any flaws. Dan and John must surely share some telepathic waves, because the editing is the fourth hero of the film (Jake, Riz and Dan being the first three). Shots blend so beautifully that you find the next development in the plot coming pat on just as the last fades away from your retina and cerebrum.

Now, if you are considering watching Nightcrawler tonight, don't just crawl, run for it! They are playing the rating game, and your eyeballs will have a good time.

Rating: ****

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8kYDQan8bw

(My apologies to the 100 odd followers and readers who might have read the review when it was first posted, on 30 October, and then found the page missing a while later, only to find it reinstated again. Since I was informed about the postponememt of the film's release in India by a week, I thought it might be a good idea to hold back the review. But after I deleted it, some colleagues advised me to reinstate it, since there were many international reviews already posted, and even quoted, by the distributors).