Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is a lone wolf who wanders the night looking to make a few bucks. On his way home from selling stolen goods to a fence, he comes upon a car on fire by the side of the road. He stops and watches a cameraman filming the victim for footage he will sell to shock-news TV stations. Realizing he’s found a niche he could be good at, Bloom buys a camera and goes out each night in search of crimes and other bloody events …

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The success of the very basic Real Steel and The Bourne Legacy at least got screenwriter Dan Gilroy behind the camera. Taking a cue from the screeching tires of Drive, Nightcrawler offers a nightmarish ride through the City of Angels, a cynical, smirking fable about the modern age. What it lacks in subtlety, it gains in power thanks mainly to an amazing central character who tricks both his enemies and the audience. Camouflaged within a skeletal form, Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a memorable performance that is both funny and terrifying. As a tough TV producer, Rene Russo (Mrs. Gilroy) completes the inspired cast that is the best reason for watching, saving a movie whose direction is somewhat flat.