![Drive [Blu-ray]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91CYjZ+fENL._AC_UL165_SR165,165_.jpg)
![Whiplash [Blu-ray] [4K UHD]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81eLULGWj+L._AC_UL165_SR165,165_.jpg)
My review is more of a 4.5
Thanks for reading!
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.
𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓 is a 2014 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis "Lou" Bloom, a stringer who records violent events late at night in Los Angeles and sells the footage to a local television news station. Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton also star.
The tradition of ‘night-crawling’ has long been inspired by the work of Arthur Fellig (‘Weegee’): a photographer active in the 1930s whose publications featured grotesque and borderline controversial portrayals of crime, death, and significant injury. Fellig’s particular style was developed secondarily to his tendency to prowl the streets looking for emergency services for a lead: with his arrival at some scenes occurring before the necessitated personnel.
Fast forward to today, and few people have procured as much attention as the Raishbrook brothers: the owners of Raishbrook Media Group who also work in Los Angeles. Having worked as advisors during the production of 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓, Gilroy and Gyllenhaal were taken on ride-alongs to get a general feel for the scenarios they willingly and enthusiastically engage with: emphasizing the lack of disregard for personal safety required for this line of employment. In need of licenced footage for any of the newsroom related scenes, the Raishbrook Brothers also unsurprisingly made their own available for use.
(Sidenote; A mini-series about this group can be found on Netflix entitled 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌; it’s extravagantly self-worshiping at times, but it’s also insightful in spurts)
No stranger to roles requiring a transformation, nothing comes close to Gyllenhaal’s metamorphosis into the likes of Lou Bloom. Physically speaking, Bloom’s gaunt appearance was achieved through a loss of approximately 30 pounds (and maintaining an obsessive gym regime while filming): making for a terrifying demeanor when paired with his enormously large and dramatically expressive eyeballs. On paper, Lou is a textbook psychopath, with Gyllenhaal’s performance upping the ante in terms of unnerving suspense and vitriolic pizzaz. Despite some casting choices making for predictable interactions - since social inequity seems to play out thematically as a discreet way of setting the mood - the delivery of 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓’s thrills and conclusions supersedes the perceived inevitability of them.
Self-aware and aloof, 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓 refuses to go into detail as it concerns Bloom’s particular backstory, with the omission of this information being far from a coincidence. Interestingly enough, Gilroy has stated previously that an explanation of sorts was originally included in his script, but it was removed with the intent of allowing viewers to project their own thoughts onto the screen with little concern as to whether or not they force a connection with the subject matter in a significant way.
To call 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓 an impractical or inefficiently equipped character study would be negligible at best, however, as the narrative is less about who Lou is and more about the domain he inadvertently becomes tethered to. On one hand, there is validation in the complaints that could be made about the exaggeration of Bloom’s pathology as potentially distracting, but when thought of as an illustration of characteristics needed to succeed amongst ethically dubious circumstances (Adjectives like 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕, and 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 come to mind, to name a few). . . much of Loui’s behavior starts to make the tiniest bit of sense.
In a self-referential way, it’s equally easy to forget that Bloom is far from acting on his own: speaking simplistically, he’s double-dealing in a line of employment that also depends on a perverse manifestation of supply and demand.
The implications are more than capable of forcing some viewers (and, spoiler alert, I’m one of them) into a vector of self-reflection regardless of their relationship with questionable sources of entertainment or news.
There’s simply no way that my morbid curiosity (in lieu of being cognizant of my own surroundings) has an effect on a journalist’s own sense of objectivity or integrity.
I hope so, anyway.
I say this while I doomscroll into the oblivion on a regular basis. I say this while I casually use 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒓: 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒆 as background noise while I write the very review you’re reading now.
On standard devices, the literal space between the buttons used to 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 and 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 are kept to a minimum, and sometimes even one in the same; It is perhaps in the same way that the metaphorical gap between bystanders and content creators may be codependently attached.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Frequently bought together
$21.02
Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 22
In Stock
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Media is exposed
Draws you in, the further the movie continues. Awkward start and pace, but really grips on to you until the finish.Not my normal movie, but glad I have it.
Top reviews from other countries
queasy
Endast recension av shoppingupplevelsen
Reviewed in Sweden on August 28, 2023Javier Méndez
Excelente película
Reviewed in Mexico on May 14, 2020
Javier Méndez
Reviewed in Mexico on May 14, 2020
Images in this review
