Nightcrawler

Summary

“I’m a hard worker. I set high goals, and I’ve been told that I’m persistent.”

Dan Gilroy’s 2014 thriller Nightcrawler was a sleeper box office success with $47 million in receipts on an $8 million budget. The film was very well received critically with specific appreciation for Jake Gyllenhaal’s intense performance, and for both the strong writing and direction by Dan Gilroy. When Nightcrawler came out on Universal’s Blu-ray in 2014, it was somewhat baffling that a 4K disc was not an option, but maybe this was because digital portions of the film were done with a 2K digital intermediate. At the time, like many, I picked up the Blu-ray and hoped that one day I could own Nightcrawler in the best format possible. Thankfully, Shout! Factory has released the film on 4K UHD and they have done everything a fan could hope for with their release. For myself, this was one of my most anticipated 4K releases of this year.

As the film begins, petty thief Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) busts open a chain length fence. A security guard approaches him, and asks what he is doing in a restricted area. After some conversation, Lou attacks the guard. He goes to a scrapyard and negotatiates with the owner over the metals he has hoisted. They negotiate a price. Lou asks the man for a job opportunity, and he is firmly rebuffed. The man explains that he would never hire a “fucking thief.” Driving on the interstate, Lou drives upon a severe car crash. Lou steps out of his car and watches the car blazing while paramedics and the fire department attempt to save the crash victims. All this occurs while a few feet away a camera man films every detail. The cameraman is Joe Loder (Bill Paxton.) Joe is a nightcrawler – a freelance journalist of sorts. Joe runs a crew that captures footage of local tragedies to sell to news stations for them to run on the morning news. Lou asks him about his job and Joe explains that “if it bleeds, it leads.” Lou asks Joe if he could take him onto his crew, and Joe declines. Lou notes that business must be pretty decent since Joe has a van full of equipment and police scanners. Joe tries to talk Lou out of pursuing that career before leaving for the next crime scene. The next day, Lou watches the footage that Joe shot on the daytime news. Lou goes to Venice Beach, and he steals a nice bicycle. He trades in the bike at a pawn shop for a camera and a police scanner. That night, Lou captures some footage at the scene of a fatal shooting from a carjacking. He takes that footage to news station KWLA 6. The morning news director Nina (Rene Russo,) is somewhat critical of the quality of the footage, but Lou makes his first sale. She encourages him to bring as much dramatic footage as he can to her, and to her station first. Lou sees an opportunity to make something of himself. After posting online, he hires a struggling and desperately poor young man named Rick (Riz Ahmed) as his assistant. Lou almost immediately begins to blur the line of journalism and criminal activity as he sees his opportunity to climb the ladder towards success.

Nightcrawler was one of my biggest surprises of 2014, and remains one of my favorite films of that decade. It is a film where every idea that the script explores is interesting and the characters and their motivations all make perfect sense. Louis Bloom is a sociopath who is willing to find success by whatever means possible. One aspect of the character that is completely unique is how Lou talks to others in business book platitudes as if his personality has been completely consumed and defined by the motivational articles he has read. I have read a lot of business books, and seeing that type of jargon utilized in such a sinister way gives the film a lot of its power. Lou in a sense represents unchecked raw ambition if morality has no register. Every action that Lou takes is understandable through that lens, because every action brings Lou closer to what he desires. He is smart, motivated, and basically unstoppable; he simply has no conscience to curtail his ambition. It is a compelling script focused on a very driven sociopath and the people that enable him. The other characters are very well written. Nina needs ratings to keep her career going and Lou’s footage is her lifesaver. Her actions enable bad behavior, but she can justify those actions if she keeps her job. The character of Rick is pitiable, and completely realistic. He does not have any footing to move out of the cycle of poverty aside from taking a morally questionable job offering low pay. His character is the saddest in the film and I like the way the script fully fleshes him out. None of the characters feel like caricatures, which is difficult to achieve when your film aims to show the seedier elements of local newscasts. All that is just to say that Dan Gilroy’s script is brilliant. It remains as darkly funny, shocking, and thrilling as it was more than a decade ago.

The acting in the film is exceptional. Jake Gyllenhaal lost twenty pounds for the role and kept very odd hours to achieve the look of Lou. He claims to have used coyotes as an inspiration – focusing on their quiet desperation. The rings around his eyes and overall demeanor sell the character of Lou completely. Amazingly, this performance was not nominated for Best Actor that year, once again proving the Academy makes plenty of mistakes. People who see the film will not forget his performance. It’s a stunner. Rene Russo is perfectly cast as Nina. She handles every one of her scenes like a true pro. She is dynamite in the movie. The late great Bill Paxton was meant to play the part of Joe Loder. It is like watching him play a morally unmoored version of his character from Twister. I greatly miss seeing Bill Paxton in films. He brought a lot to this movie and it stands as one of his best supporting roles. Lastly, Riz Ahmed is great as Rick. He draws the sympathy of the viewer from almost the first moment he shows up onscreen. Dan Gilroy knew exactly what he wanted to get out of his crew to bring his script to life, and the fact that this was his directorial debut makes his work here even more impressive. The score by James Newton Howard adds a lot to the film with its electronic ambience and occasional guitars. That interplay with the brilliant cinematography by Robert Elswit makes Nightcrawler one of the truly great Los Angeles films. I think this is a case where everything works together.

It is amazing to think that just a decade later, this film would be very different now. Almost any guy can hop into a car with a police scanner and an iPhone and get the same type of footage that Lou was after. In fact – it would look much better. I would love to see how Dan Gilroy’s script would have adapted to the gig economy of today! Considering all the changes that have occurred in the last decade, Nightcrawler has not lost any of its vitality or ability to captivate.

Nightcrawler was one of the best films of the 2010s decade. I highly recommend popping in this flick and taking the ride. You will not regret it. Fans of the film are going to love being able to see the picture in 4K with Atmos!

Video

Nightcrawler was originally released into theaters with a 2K Digital Intermediate. The film was shot in an unconventional way. For daytime and interior scenes, cinematographer Robert Elswit shot on 35mm film. For nighttime scenes, he used Arri Alexa Xt because of its sensitivity to light. The digital film was in ARRIRAW format. For this release, Shout! Factory performed a scan of the original DI which brings out better fine detail and more impressive colors. The Blu-ray by Universal in 2014 looked pretty good, but Nightcrawler now looks great. Fans of the film will be excited to have a definitive presentation of the picture.

Audio

Shout! Factory has provided a great sounding Dolby Atmos track. This is a big leap forward from the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track from the 2014 Blu-ray. I love a good engaging Atmos track, and Nightcrawler delivers in spades. The final thirty minutes of the film have some dramatic setpieces involving a lot of moving parts and cars moving at high speed. Those sequences are so much more engaging with a track of this quality. This is the biggest selling point for purchasing the 4K edition. For those who prefer the 5.1 track, or a downconverted Stereo track, those are available as well.

Supplements:

The 4K features the two audio commentaries. The 1080p disc has the remaining supplements. 

• Audio Commentary with Film Historian Joe von Appen – von Appen, co-host of the podcast, Adjust Your Tracking discusses the film.
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dan Gilroy, Producer Tony Gilroy, and Editor John Gilroy – This commentary with the three brothers that worked together on the film is wonderful. Obviously, writer/director Dan Gilroy gets most of the spotlight but hearing the thoughts of his brother John who edited the picture and the thoughts of noteworthy filmmaker John who produced the film is a real treat. This is definitely worth checking out.
• Making the News: Scoring Nightcrawler — An Interview with Composer James Newton Howard – conducted remotely, this is a phenomenal interview with the iconic composer. He details how Dan Gilroy gave him some solid advice which completely reshaped his approach to the score. He is obviously proud of the resulting soundtrack, which makes great sense to me. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of how percussion in Peter Gabriel’s work influenced a whole group of composers. I really enjoyed this interview.
• If It Bleeds, It Leads: Making Nightcrawler Featurette – a quick EPK.
• Trailer 

Overall Scores: 

Video – 4.75/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 5/5

Nightcrawler is essentially a perfect film. It ranks as one of my favorite films of the 2010s, and holds up beautifully more than a decade after its release. Nightcrawler benefits from an awe-inspiring performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, alongside fantastic turns by Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, and Riz Ahmed. The script by Dan Gilroy is brilliant, and he directs the film with exceptional skill (which is even more impressive considering this was his directorial debut.) The cinematography by Robert Elswit is fantastic and pairs beautifully with James Newton Howard’s score. If you have never seen the film, put it at the top of your watch pile. Shout! Factory’s 4K release is fantastic with a very solid 4K transfer, an exceptional Atmos upgrade, and great new features (including a very good interview with the composer.) This release easily earns our highest recommendation. Buy it!