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Review: Nightcrawler; or, The Chill of Capital (2014; dir. Dan Gilroy)

To say that reviewing Nightcrawler (2014; dir. Dan Gilroy) is a difficult task would be an understatement.  Nightcrawler haunts the viewer like something out of Poltergeist (1982; dir. Tobe Hooper).  It’s the kind of experience that I find impossible to forget, not simply because of its focus on Los Angeles’ late-night chaos but also because its examination of that life is in so many ways uncompromising and disturbingly logical.  Talking about such a film without blathering on endlessly becomes a difficult task indeed, which may explain why this review is so focused on a single element:  Bloom. Nightcrawler follows Louis Bloom, an eccentric small-time thief who literally steals his way into the “nightcrawler” business in Los Angeles after witnessing a “nightcrawler” taping a car accident (Bill Paxton).  Determined to “make it,” he begins selling to a low-rated local news station and sets out to dominate the market at any cost.