Nightcrawler

Released:  October 31^st, 2014

Rated:  R

Studio:  Open Road Films

Starring:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton

Directed by:  Dan Gilroy                    

Written by:  Dan Gilroy

Personal Bias Alert:  likes antiheros, doesn’t really know who Rene Russo is

9 of 10

            The logo for distributor Open Road Films has quickly become something that makes me perk up with excitement.  They’ve only existed a few years, but they’ve already established a solid lineup of sure-fire horror moneymakers and intelligent, well-made thrillers.  It’s the thrillers that’ve captured my attention, with The Grey, Side Effects, and now Nightcrawler all finding a home at Open Road Films.  The company’s done their distribution jobs well, both The Grey and Side Effects were financial successes, but this year Open Road seems to be pushing into the awards race with films like the Jon Stewart helmed Rosewater and the exceptional Nightcrawler.

            Nightcrawler is about the lengths a self-employed crime journalist will go to to get a great story.  It’s also a massive indictment of the American news system, calling out the industry for what the film terms a “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality.  There’s also some stuff about psychopaths, business models, and the economy, but I think the filmmakers would be happy if you just considered it a thrilling character study.

            Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the film’s centerpiece, an ambitious, intelligent, and despicable young man who discovers that there’s money to be made by filming violent crimes and selling the footage to local news stations.  He has a not-so-quiet self-confidence that rubs people the wrong way.  I think the best word to sum him up is smarmy, and Gyllenhaal mines every awkwardly charming bone in his body to make Lou simultaneously off-putting and irresistible.  It really is a tremendous feat, and Gyllenhaal deserves the widespread acclaim he’s garnering.  The camera stays with Lou the entire movie, so if Gyllenhaal had slipped up even a little the whole production would’ve suffered.

            Lou isn’t too interested in people, so the supporting cast is small.  Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed are great in the small parts they have, but they never get close enough to Lou to really get fleshed out.  Rene Russo plays the news director that Lou sells his pieces to and is the only one who gets to go toe-to-toe with Gyllenhaal.  She knocks it out of the park.  Both characters are similarly rotten beasts, and Russo’s role is just as fraught with difficulties and just as essential to the film as Gyllenhaal’s.

            Many of Russo and Gyllenhaal’s interactions really crackle and in many films those would be the stand-out moments, but Nightcrawler is such a taught, suspenseful movie that it’s hard to single out any one scene.  Writer/director Dan Gilroy has delivered a rare film that seems to have every bit it needs and nothing that it doesn’t.  Lou’s slowly unveiled personality is expertly paced so it never seems false or too much, and the grisly action sequences provide enough jolts to keep the energy up.  This film may be critiquing the news’s fascination with disturbing stories, but it’s just as guilty of using the same techniques to get its own audience riled up.

            I may not be able to single out a particular scene as a high point, but the cinematography on this movie is some of the best I’ve seen all year.  Cinematographer Robert Elswit handles the film’s mix of slow burn and high octane moments with ease, adding enough visual flair to keep the whole thing beautifully mesmerizing without drawing too much attention to itself.  On a more technical note, this movie takes place largely at night, and it wasn’t until I walked out of the theater that I remarked on how clear all the action was and how much the colors popped despite always feeling like it was the dead of night.

            This movie is rad, a gutsy, all-out ride, but there are a few too many unrealistic ‘movie moments’ for my taste.  And as much fun as Lou is to watch, I was never emotionally invested in him.  I knew from the beginning that he was bad news (sorry for the pun), and I watched his antics more out of fascination than any desire to see him succeed.  Still, his life is a fun, potentially shocking good time, and I can’t wait to see this movie again.

            Other Notes: 

Ø  Yes, I know that Gilroy and Russo are married, but that doesn’t make her any less perfect for the part.  It was an excellent casting choice.

Ø  Let’s play diagnose this character’s mental disorder!

Ø  Do you like Mexican food?

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Released:  June 6^th, 2014

Rated:  PG-13

Studio:  Warner Bros.

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson

Directed by:  Doug Liman 

Written by:  Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth

Personal Bias Alert:  likes time travel stories, not averse to Tom Cruise

8.7 of 10

            After seeing this film, I immediately texted my friend “find out nothing about ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and go see it.”  It really is a film best seen cold, which brings up an old, tired dilemma for reviewers:  how do you talk about a film without talking about it?  There’s no good answer, so I’m going to try to balance my bubbling desire to talk about this film with my equally strong desire for everyone to go see it and have as much fun as I did.  Translation:  I’m going to be as vague as possible, but I encourage everyone to take the advice I texted my friend.  Stop reading this unless you’ve seen the film.  Please.

            Tom Cruise plays William Cage, a spokesperson turned soldier for the allied human forces fighting a species of alien invaders.  The aliens are marching across Europe, greatly helped by their ability to reset time.  Meaning, if things go wrong, they can rewind and start things over again until they get it right.  Humanity has recently landed a rare victory at Verdun, which prompts an ambitious, three-pronged attack against the aliens.  Cage is sent to the shores of France to participate in the first wave, only to witness the human forces be slaughtered and eventually be killed himself.  But he, in the process of killing an alien, absorbs their reset power and begins reliving the 24 hours preceding the invasion over and over again.  His task becomes to change the outcome of the attack, save humanity, yada yada yada.  He is helped by Verdun hero Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), one of the few people who believes his insane story.

            Now that’s just the setup, which, like here, does take some time to get through.  It’s something we’ve seen before, and this portion of the film does feel a bit tired.  It’s a necessary thing to get through, though, and there are moments of humor and some great battle sequences to keep you from getting too bored.  It’s what happens after this setup that makes the movie great, unfolding in zigs and zags as they try to figure out how the day needs to play out.  I’ve seen these sorts of movies before, and I was pleasantly surprised with the turns the film took.

            Cruise is made for these roles, either that or he’s done them so many times they have become part of his DNA.  He sells the crazy stuff happening, lands the jokes, and is incredibly watchable while doing it.  I don’t know what it is about movie stars like him, but they are just able to command a viewer’s attention.  Blunt is another great choice, but she’s not so obvious a fit as Cruise.  Then again, Cruise isn’t a young man anymore, and casting a slight woman and an aging man as your leads in an action film is kind of daring.  It works here because it sells the premise that his reset ability is what’s important.  It also lends an odd couple feel to the whole thing, which is the source of a decent amount of the film’s humor.  That humor keeps things from getting too dark, something the film flirts with throughout its midsection.  Part of me wanted it to go there, but then again, that would have slowed things down.  The steadily building plot is the strongest part of the film, so I’m fine with that particular choice.

            You’ve probably seen promos that heavily feature the robotic exoskeletons that humans wear as they fight the aliens.  They’re cool, but I also like that they didn’t give the soldier’s too much power.  They aren’t running around blowing everything up like super soldiers.  The suit the actors wore was supposedly very heavy (85 pounds).  I’m sure those were a pain to film in, but I loved that you could see the actor’s stance and gait change under the weight.  It really helps sell some of the action sequences, but others are hampered by blurry images that I can’t be sure were due to bad effects or bad camerawork.

            The plot is the star here, and I was enthralled by it.  At one point, I came out of my reverie and realized that I wasn’t paying attention to lighting, music, or any of the other technical stuff I should make note of in my review.  I was just having much fun with it, so I said screw it and dropped right back into the story.

            Other Notes:

Ø  The characters can be a bit thin, but then again, most of them never go through more than a day’s change.

Ø  For a time travel movie, there are remarkably few plot holes.  There’s always some, though.

Ø  Nice tie-ins to both world wars.  Verdun was the site of a major WWI battle and the invasion sequence looks like D-Day from WWII.

Ø  I wish it didn’t end that way.  It really feels false and tacked on.