Nightcrawler MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: -4

Jake Gyllenall, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton. Crime/drama/thriller. Written & directed by Dan Gilroy.

FILM SYNOPSIS: When Lou Bloom, a driven man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become a star video gatherer. Self-taught, Bloom discovers how to get on the scene firsthand in order to capture graphic attention-getting news footage before others. Of course, he’s insane, so pity the fool who gets in the way of his goal.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Jake Gyllenhaal is pitch perfect in this unnerving thriller as a dark soul with sociopathic tendencies and a narcissistic personality. That said, it’s a difficult film to sit through, and it haunts you when you leave the theater.

Are you a competitor of Lou Bloom’s? A TV news director not so inclined to aid him rise in his career? Are you a partner who attempts to blackmail him ? Are you a guy with a nice watch? Beware. Lou Bloom has no moral reasoning. He will destroy you in order to protect himself. And because he looks like the rest of us, the film is especially unnerving, as no one suspects that he is a dangerous monster.

Though extremely well-made, it creeped me out. Some might say it’s the perfect movie for the Halloween weekend. Others, like myself may prefer Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

As for those who actually collect film footage for the evening news, Nightcrawler paints them not as people providing a service, so much as vampiric children of the night.

And, sadly, we once again have a film loaded with obscenity. Nearly everyone with more than five lines gets a chance to utter the f-word. I can understand how a writer might use such language to define a character. But what does it say about our filmmakers when nearly every screen personality they create is defined by coarseness, obscenity and profanity?

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Open Road Pictures