search

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler

Recently, CNN showed reporters physically chasing a woman connected to the Ebola scare. Not too long ago, a Fox News affiliate aired a suicide live on television. So, no, Nightcrawler isn’t farfetched. It’s perfectly fetched. It’s importantly fetched.

Beyond the indictment of journalism in service of voyeuristic pleasure, Nightcrawler is a stunning thriller with a career-defining performance from Jake Gyllenhaal (sorry, Bubble Boy). Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is part Patrick Bateman, part Jordan Belfort. He is a sociopath with laser focus, a monster completely in control of himself. He is terrifying and you cannot look away from him.

The film wastes no time in telling us that we are to despise this man, who will do whatever he needs to in order to succeed. He is harassed by a security guard as he is stealing copper and wire, sees that the guard has a nice watch and beats him and takes it. It takes all of one minute for Bloom to bare his teeth and declare himself a predator. When he sells the stolen goods to a construction manager, he also tries to sell himself, asking for a job … any job. When he’s turned down, he drives home and stumbles upon a fiery wreck and sees cameramen filming the carnage.

Bloom has found his calling: visually feasting on the carcass of tragedy. He makes a connection with a local TV producer, Nina (Rene Russo), who tells him the specific type of horrifying shots she wants: white suburban victims. So Louis coaxes a broke drifter, Rick (Riz Ahmed), into being his co-pilot, help ing him navigate the streets at night, using a police scanner to chase down the goriest crimes as fast as they can. The more successful Bloom gets, the more dangerous he becomes, leading to a thrilling final 45 minutes that are as tense as any imaginable.

Gyllenhaal is visual flypaper here. Bug-eyed and floppy haired, you can’t stop looking at him, contemplating him. He’s not a serial killer or sexual assailant; he’s the twisted endpoint of the American dream. He’s ruthless capitalism in the flesh, unconcerned with how many dead bodies he must step on to reach the next rung in the ladder. Russo is also amazing as the type of character most stories don’t consider: she’s a smart, grizzled woman on the back end of her career, willing to compromise her integrity for one last go.

Writer/director Dan Gilroy has made something remarkable. Much like the work of Joon-ho Bong, Nightcrawler bends genres. In its darkest moments, it is sometimes intentionally funny. Its scathing criticism of this type of media and its audience flips between satire and violent condemnation over and over again. Beyond all of that, the film simply sizzles, racing towards the conclusion like Bloom after his next story. Nightcrawler is an audacious mainstream thriller, a bombastic character study and a hell of a first movie for Gilroy, even if it’s a little terrifying to think of what characters he will dream up next.

— Ryan Syrek, Boulder Weekly

Nightcrawler

Wed February 11, 2015, 7:30 only, Muenzinger Auditorium

USA, 2014, English, Color, 117 min, DP, 2.35:1, R • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Looking for a gift for a friend?
Buy a Frequent Patron Punch Card for $60 at any IFS show. With the punch card you can see ten films (a value of $90).

We Want Your Feedback

Cox & Kjølseth
: Filmmaker Alex Cox & Pablo Kjølseth discuss film topics from their own unique perspectives.

Z-briefs
: Pablo and Ana share Zoom-based briefs on what's currently playing at IFS

Search IFS schedules

Index of visiting artists

Mon Apr 1, 2024

Hot Shots! Part Deux

At Muenzinger Auditorium

Sat Apr 20, 2024

Super Mario Bros.

At Muenzinger Auditorium

more on 35mm...