TheCity

Tag: Jake Gyllenhaal

  • Nightcrawler Movie Review

    Nightcrawler Movie Review

    NIGHTCRAWLER is a well directed, heart-pounding, pulse-throbbing crime thriller that’s storyline is the first of its kind to be transformed into a blockbuster movie.

    The suspenseful story acts as a mirror to what’s happening in reality in the realm of broadcast media and freelance journalism, with individuals stepping up to the mark and providing self-generated content.

    Set in downtown Los Angeles, the film centres on a ruthless thief named Louis ‘Lou’ Bloom who is desperate for a job and who is tremendously tired of showcasing his worth only to be rejected by potential employees.

    Deciding that a path of self-employment is the better option, Bloom sets out to stand on his own two feet and so he turns his hand to freelance journalism.

    Capturing the horrifying scenes of barbaric crimes committed in the heart of LA is no reason for Bloom to bat an eye-lid and soon the social outsider looks at his new interest as a calling and works towards being the epitome of success.

    With an impressive bank account and a bulging contacts book in sight, Bloom befriends as many people as possible to help reach the top of his game and he has no remorse in trampling on those who have aided his progress.

    Lou shows no empathy towards victims of terrible acts of violence or road traffic collisions and hijackings. For Lou, these people are merely objects he can cash in on.

    Rated 16 and lasting a total of 117 minutes, Jake Gyllenhaal plays the character of Louis Bloom and delivers a killer performance. Gyllenhaal effortlessly illustrates how adaptable he is as an actor as he performs his role as a sociopath to perfection.

    Directed by American screenwriter Dan Gilroy, best known for The Bourne Legacy (2012), this drama contains scenes of violence but nothing that is worthy of cringing at with your parents.

    Though the movie succeeded in entertaining the viewer and showcases one of Hollywood’s ‘beauts’, it is slightly dragged out with unnecessary scenes that could have been left for the blubbers or deleted scenes of the DVD set.

  • New thriller ‘Prisoners’ captures audiences

    New thriller ‘Prisoners’ captures audiences

    This taut, suspense filled psychological thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal is, without a doubt, one of the best films of the year so far.

    Taking place over seven days, Prisoners follows the search for Anna Dover and Joy Birch; two six-year old girls abducted from outside their homes on Thanks Giving, as well as the mental and emotional toll this takes on their families.

    Jackman excels as a man struggling to come to terms with his daughters disappearance
    Jackman excels as a man struggling to come to terms with his daughters disappearance  [credit:cinemablend.com]
    The film begins at a break-neck pace, the opening credits barely finished rolling before the girls go missing. However, this is by no means another fast-paced action flick, the next two hours slowly building suspense and gathering pace to culminate in a breathless final sequence.

    Jackman is again hugely impressive, this time as devout survivalist Keller Dover, father of the missing Anna. Keller’s desperation to find his daughter and the strain this puts on his faith is a central theme to the story.

    Following Dover’s descent into violence is Detective Loki, the intriguing police-officer who has never failed to solve a case up till now. Gyllenhaal’s range is apparent here, his restrained performance as the tattooed loner-cop with the facial tick at odds with his last role in the light-hearted End of Watch.

    Troubled cop Detective Loki
    Gyllenhaal as troubled police-officer Detective Loki         [credit: popmatters.com]
    The film’s subdued sound-track helps cultivate the sense of tension through-out the film, while the prevalence of trees and other wooden objects is a subtle nod to Dover’s inability to see ‘the wood for the trees’ in his manic attempts to locate the missing girls.

    ‘Skeletons in closets’ (or under floors) are another key theme; histories of characters becoming increasingly relevant as the film progresses. Indeed, the consistent mentions of both Dover and Loki’s pasts are invaluable in developing a three-dimensional sense of the protagonists.

    At its heart though, Prisoners is an impressively told story, one that reels you in and keeps you on the edge of your seat right up to the final second.