Nightcrawler Review.

As a lover of Jake Gylenhaal I knew I was going to have to see Nightcrawler. My boyfriend and I went last weekend so I thought I'd let you guys know what I thought of it. 

From the trailer and movie posters it looked as though it had a bit of a Drive vibe going on- and I sort of had to get that out of my head quite early on as its a very different type of film. 

The movie follows Lou Bloom- whom at the beginning is a guy struggling to get a job and stealing from building sites to survive. Circumstances soon change as he becomes a Nightcrawler- something I had never heard of before. We see Lou driving at white knuckle speeds around L.A following police radios to try and get footage from the scenes of car crashes and attacks around the city. As that description suggests its a grim and morbid job that at times feels quite sickening, with other Nightcrawlers stating that "if it bleeds, it leads". They then sell this footage to the highest bidding news stations- the more affluent the victim the more they pay. The film is a very negative portrayal of the media, something that just keeps cropping up in films at the minute, as it shows the bloodthirsty ruthlessness of these stations. Possibly the best quip from the film is when Lou gets some advice on what to film;

"...the best and clearest way that I can phrase it to you, Lou, to capture the spirit of what we air is to think of our newscast as a screaming woman, running down the street with her throat cut."

 Although I did enjoy this film, for me personally I felt that something was missing. I'm a sucker for a film with a likable yet flawed character which is something you most certainly won't find in Nightcrawler. However, that is not to criticise Gyllenhaal's performance- he's fantastic. Lou is a manipulative, cold-hearted anti-hero. These traits are easily portrayed, Gyllenhaal excels at creating a character that is also chilling and borderline manic- he is superb.

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Overall, I would recommend you go and see this if you haven't already. Its a suspenseful and at times humorous noir,and Gyllenhaal will leave you on edge with his depiction of Lou. This film has left me excited to see what he'll do next, as I feel he keeps choosing more and more interesting and dynamic roles. I think we have a lot more to see from Jake Gyllenhaal.

Prisoners- Film Review

Now, if I'm being completely honest I wasn't overly bothered about going to see Prisoners, although being a huge Criminal Minds fan it did look like something I'd like. Despite this, I ended up sitting in the cinema munching away on my popcorn watching this for two reasons; A: my boyfriend really wanted to see it (and it was his turn to choose the film) and B: Jake Gyllenhaal (need I elaborate?).

I ended up seriously enjoying this film, it far exceeded my expectations. As I already said it does appeal to fans of shows like Criminal Minds (can you tell I love it?) in the sense that its a lets-solve-the-case story. However, it is so much more than that- the film is about two children who go missing. We watch the search of these children unfold from the perspective of the lead investigator on the case, Loki (Gyllenhaal) and the children's parents- mostly Keller (Hugh Jackman). Firstly, this was a real stellar cast and the acting from both was incredible. The characters are incredibly frustrated and desperate in their search and they portray this throughout the film with subtlety on Gyllenhaal's part (with one desk-smashing exception) and with violent outbursts from Jackman. However, both these portrayals although different are both believable and emotional to watch.

Now any other Criminal Minds fans out there (I know again!) will understand the agonising tension of some particularly well crafted episodes, Prisoners was on another level. Described as a dark, suspenseful thriller it really does- excuse the cliché- leave you on the edge of your seat. My boyfriend found me particularly amusing fidgeting around and hopping up and down on my seat for the later parts of the film. To me, this just showed how emotionally involved with the film I was- it really is one to suck you in, whilst filling you with a sense of dread throughout.

Overall, I found that it was quite a long film, with perhaps a slight lull in the middle, but it was never boring. I haven't said too much about the plot as its difficult to do so without giving away too much of the story! What I can say is that there are plenty of twists and red herrings to keep you guessing and elements of the film will make you question what we call justice. The ending, is great in my opinion-lots of people have criticised it- it doesn't tie everything up too neatly and isn't overly sentimental which it easily could have been. Its an intense and emotional film that I would highly recommend anyone to see!

P.S. The only thing that would make this film completely perfect is of course Shemar Moore. ;)