Movie Review - Nightcrawler

Not all psychopaths are deranged serial killers. They walk among us, they can be educated. Their percentage in boardrooms and positions of power is much higher than in the general population. They lack ethics, compete unfairly, engage in risky behavior including sexual promiscuity, they have no empathy or sympathy. If there is a psychopath above you in your chain of command at work, do not ever get on their bad side or you will regret it.

The psych tests for peace officers to strap weapons are pretty straight forward. But there are positions of authority in society that don't require a weapon. These people do not get tested for propensity to abuse authority before they are given these positions. Even if they were, they can be charismatic and manipulative when the time is right to escape scrutiny.

It doesn't matter how many degrees you have on the wall, when it comes time to diagnose everyone uses the DSM. Each condition has a set of criteria and if the patient meets a certain thresh hold you diagnose.

I have no doubt writer Dan Gilroy is familiar with the DSM criteria for psychopaths. The first movie he wrote, Two for the Money, has a brilliant scene where Matthew McConaughey asks Al Pacino for a raise. Though subdued throughout the movie this is where Al loses his shit and it is obvious he has a problem. It's the turning point in the movie.

Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Nightcrawler, Louis, is a psychopath. The movie starts showing him as a struggling thief and con man. Right after he robs a trainyard and a security guard, he goes to the recycling center where the dialogue shows he is very articulate and well spoken. A sign of intelligence.

On his way home he get an idea for a new career. He pulls over on a freeway to look at an accident and observes an ambulance chaser taking footage for the local news. The guy is rude to Louis and says he can't hire him. So Louis decides to go into business himself. He steals a bicycle and trades it in for a camcorder and police scanner.

He starts showing up to police and fire incidents and brazenly invades everyone's space to get a good cut. He takes risks racing to the scenes and getting way too close. He makes his first sale to the TV station, he gets $250 for his tape and ingratiates himself to the director who compliments him and gives him some advice.

Psychopaths target the naive who are unaware of who they are dealing with. This is portrayed amazingly well in the relationship between Louis and the assistant he hires through a local rag. Louis craftily over represents what he really is and undermines the applicant's self worth at the same time. He plays Rick like a fiddle and gets him to start as an intern for $30 a night.

He scores a great piece of intimate footage by crossing the police tape and getting inside the house of murder victims. He even stages some of the scenes for dramatic effect. As his catalogue of footage grows he can afford a new muscle car to beat the competition to the crimes, not to mention beating police and fire themselves!

We are not here to give full summaries of these movies. Of note from this point in the movie are how his intern goes out, how he seduces (coerces rather) the director, how he undermines the competition, and how Louis crosses the line from capturing to actually committing crimes. In the end he ends up with a prospering business, new suckers (interns rather) and a bright future. These people know how to climb the ladder. Society is not better for it.

We give this movie 4.5 out of 5 farts. Great story, lessons learned, cautionary tale, great acting, great shooting, great writing, enjoy.