"The city Shines brightest at night" in Nightcrawler. This neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Dan Gilroy, in his directorial debut. The film is a thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling - where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
In 1988, Gilroy conceived the idea after reading the photo-book Naked City, a collection of photographs taken by American photographer Weegee of 1940s New York City residents at night. Often lewd and sensationalized in content, Weegee would sell these photos to tabloid newspapers. However, when The Public Eye (1992) was released, a film loosely based on Weegee's life, Gilroy shelved the idea. Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles, and noted the predominance of violent crime stories on local news stations. Sometime later, he discovered the stringer profession, and considered it to be the modern day equivalent of Weegee. Unaware of any film that focused on the livelihood of stringers, he began writing a script. Gilroy spent several years trying to write a plot that would fit the setting, and experimented with conspiracies and murder mysteries as central story elements. Eventually, he decided to instead start by designing the characters, and attempted to create a standard literary hero character. Unable to create an interesting hero, he then envisioned an antihero as the lead character. Gilroy felt antiheroes were a rarity in films, because they are difficult to write, and usually devolve into psychopaths; in an attempt to break from the stereotype, he thought of writing an antihero success story. The King of Comedy (1983), To Die For (1995), and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) served as inspirations. Once the script was finalized, Gilroy knew that he wanted to direct the film. He sent the script to his brother Tony Gilroy, and asked him for advice on directing. His brother described the script as "absolutely compelling", and noted every person who read the script afterwards wanted to work on the project, a rarity in the film industry.
Jake Gyllenhaal was Gilroy's first choice for the role of Lou. During pre-production, Gyllenhaal was going to star in another film, but that project fell through, allowing time to meet with Gilroy. The two discussed the script in Atlanta, where Gyllenhaal was filming Prisoners (2013). When Gilroy told Gyllenhaal that he wrote the film as a success story, Gyllenhaal became interested in the film. The two rehearsed the script months before filming began, and Gyllenhaal became heavily involved in production. While rehearsing the character, Gilroy mentioned how he saw Lou as a coyote, a nocturnal predator who is driven by its never ending hunger. Gyllenhaal took this comment literally, and lost nearly thirty pounds by eating nothing but kale salads and chewing gum, and running fifteen miles every day. Although some of the crew disagreed with this decision, Gilroy was supportive of the weight loss; Gyllenhaal was respectful and did not alter the script, so Gilroy wanted to reciprocate this generosity. Gyllenhaal also memorized the entire movie like a play. By early October 2013, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton were cast. Ahmed was one of seventy-five actors to audition for the role of Rick. To prepare for the role, Ahmed met with homeless people in Skid Row, and researched homeless shelters to "understand the system". Gilroy specifically wrote the role of Nina for his wife Rene Russo; this was because he felt that Nina could easily be reduced to a "hard-nosed corporate bitch", but Russo would bring a sense of vulnerability to the character. Although Russo was unaware of Gilroy's intention while writing the script, she was interested in performing the role, as she had never portrayed a desperate woman in a film. Russo initially struggled with the character, because she never saw herself as the victim. In order to accurately portray the character, Russo had to recall memories of when she crossed moral boundaries in her life as a result of desperation and fear. At the same time, with a budget of $8.5 million, principal photography commenced, and took place throughout Los Angeles, California with eighty locations.
The film stars Gyllenhaal, Russo, Ahmed, and Paxton. As Lou, the poor sap in desperate need of a purpose, Gyllenhaal is straight-up psychopathic yet surprisingly relatable - a truly damaged human being.
Simon says Nightcrawler receives:
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