Reviews

Nightcrawler is slang. I will not ruin or spoil anything in this review. Jake Gylenhall has never been better. His character must have been incredibly hard to play, and you will see why. There is a reason this Thriller & Drama opened on Halloween. His character is ambitious to a fault & highly intelligent. He interacts most often with Rene Russo & a man he calls his intern. If you thought Julius Caesar was ambitious or Alexander the Great, this character must have the same motivation to succeed minus the goal of conquering the world. Needless to say he is driven. Russo is also ambitious, so they make a good team. The difference is how far each is willing to cross the lines of morality, legality & humanity.

The movie is original in every sense. There has never been a movie similar in the character or the situation, and the movie makes an open commentary about an important but not political aspect of American society. To say it was gripping would be literal. I looked down at one point, and I was clutching my outer thigh. The movie is tense & intense. Every move seems known to Gylenhall but not to anyone else. If you like entrepreneurs, this movie will appeal to that in one aspect. Overall, it is definitely a Thriller full of danger & illegality. It is Gylenhall versus the world, if he were a diplomat & the world represented achieving his goals. That's his character around others. When left unwatched, even for a moment, he devolves into a character that does whatever it takes.

See this movie for the originality. See it if you enjoy thrillers. See it because he gives the best acting performance of his life in a character with many sides. See it for fun. See it for a cool fast car. Or, the fact it is tracking above 8 stars out of 10 which is about as good as it gets on IMDb, considering that is the average of thousands & thousands of ratings by people as diverse as patrons watching on a Washington, D.C theater. From that number you can safely predict it's very likely you will find it as highly entertaining as the international average (plus or minus 1 star). In my estimation, I reserve a 9/10 rating for the best of the best. 10/10 stars are for the greatest movies. This is easily the best of the best.

One friendly tip: If you are on heart, or anxiety medication, take it as scheduled or if it's as needed, make sure it's within reach.

Knox D. Alford, III

This movie was an excellent portrayal of what I suspect is a realistic account of a girl & boy growing up way too fast. What happens to the children on milk cartons? This movie endeavors to show what too often can & does. I can hardly think of a more serious topic, but I want to reassure viewers that the movie is filmed in a way that reveals the horrible situations with integrity & nothing graphic is shown. Your only repulsion should come from an expanded understanding of what can happen to children and the twisted ways their minds are manipulated to deal with the perverse dilemmas they are forced to reconcile in their young minds.

The movie deals with so many issues in under two hours, which is impressive. Abduction, underage sex trafficking, methods of sex traffickers, runaways, homeless youth, the world-view & hardened emotions that manifest in dealing in this world, & the stories of extremely difficult survival for kids with no home. Again, it is amazing the director accomplished all of this subject matter without exploiting the actors themselves. While the ideas are revolting, your heart responds with a greater love & understanding of the victims of this ugly subculture of humanity.

Jillian Jacobs is astounding in a hardened but not too hard role as a teen who has been pushed beyond the limits of morality & maintains a softness & concern for others, rejecting the behaviors of abuse & subjugation she has been exposed to. Sadly, this is not common in the family life cycle. Normally, we learn from what we see and experience & then duplicate that in our own lives, because how would we know otherwise?

As this movie involved the journey of a boy & a girl through hell on earth, it should come as no surprise to hear it was a gripping thriller that demanded to be watched to completion. I enjoyed it because it informed my imagination & broadened my understanding of the causes & effects of many of our culture's most despicable acts & brought to life in as tasteful way as I could imagine, how these events are processed by children. Any movie that expands our collective consciousness achieves one of the cinema's primary objectives & deserves our heartfelt appreciation.

I rate this a 7/10 stars because of all of the above & the way Jillian Jacobs toes the line in her portrayal of a thoroughly sympathetic character throughout. This was not an easy role. If you enjoy thrillers & dramas & wouldn't mind becoming more informed about these issues, this is a must-see movie.

Knox D. Alford, III

This movie is about as good as they get. A superb cast, a quality script, actors pushing the envelopes & displaying talents they aren't really known for, & the raw emotive value of truth in defining the million different things that make us human.

I'm not going to attempt to quantify or describe in detail how great Bill Murray was in this movie. We have all taken note of his dramatic acting ability & he mastered comedy decades ago. But, this was the first time he made me fight like hell to keep tears from coming. And, come they did. It was an exceedingly funny movie with laughs coming from Murray & the little boy. McCarthy showed us a dramatic side, while still providing a few subtle laughs.

As much as the script was about a boy, & his relationship with a salty neighbor who few took the time & effort to get to know, the movie in it's entirety could be a tribute to Bill Murray's limitless talent & ever- expanding range as an actor. I'm not going to spoil any aspect of the movie, so let me just urge everyone to treat yourself to the best acting I've seen in a long time, in a movie that should appeal to everyone.

I give this movie a rating of 9/10 stars & for the life of me, I cannot tell you how it could have been better other than if it ran for an extra hour & half. They say perfection is unattainable, & I say, you haven't seen Murray's hilarious/dramatic/transformative talent captured for the ages in this film. After all, one of the reasons we go to the movies is to feel. Murray made me feel like thinking the word Oscar over & over.

Knox D. Alford, III

What sleight of hand! A moving love story between a high school cellist prodigy & a rising rock star (slightly older). If I stay implies a choice is to be made. Perhaps there is. Who am I to say? If there is no one knows for sure, & if they proclaim otherwise, they are a clear & obvious fraud. This story revolves around this existential question & successfully gives deep & equal background for both. Many will flat out cry, & I remember two instances of prolonged hard blinks, fighting off tears.

The maturation of Chloe Grace, as I call her, has been sublime to watch. I rarely watch Carson Daly, but remember the genuineness & wit from his interview with her before an early hit movie. This was ingrained into my memory as someone to keep track of. She displays masterful acting, as the female lead. If I could buy stock in an actress, she would be my blue chip 1st choice.

It gives me great pleasure to recommend this movie. It was enjoyable to see the clear chemistry between boy & girl. They were successful in portraying the emotions of true love, the give and take, and sacrifices that make it endure. Chloe Grace Moretz outshines everyone else in the story. The supporting cast was good, but never had the chance the moment she was cast. The ending seems predictable but it was far from it. The director makes two equally compelling cases for her choice. Enjoy this movie about young adult love, and don't be surprised if you compare it to your own love stories. I rate this a very solid 7/10 stars on the back of Chloe Grace's performance. Others, who enjoy this genre more than I, may well rate it 1-2 stars higher. Chloe Grace continues to rise in her mastery of the art.

Knox D. Alford, III