Jake Gyllenhaal just might be one of the most interesting actors working today - largely eschewing the big blockbusters (apparently he lost out on the part of Batman to Christian Bale), he tends to make low key movies more geared towards the art house cinema than the multiplex, and Nightcrawler is no exception. His portrayal of Lou Bloom, a man who finds himself taking up the job of a nightcrawler - prowling police radios in search of the latest traffic accident or violent crime in order to get to the scene first and film it so he can sell the footage to news channels - is one of the best sociopath performances in some time. Morality is all but abandoned in pursuit of the most shocking footage, as becomes clear in one of the movie's darkest scenes. Bloom approaches a house where armed burglars have been reported and sees the culprits leaving as he arrives - lifting up his camera he enters the home and films the dead before the police arrive. We learn later that one of them was still alive - it's a chilling insight into a twisted mind and a commentary on the darkly voyeuristic nature of the media.
