His performance is so nuanced and interesting. When his character says things like, "I like the dark makeup around your eyes and I like the way you smell" with such flat, straightforward delivery it completely highlights Lou's lack of understanding human emotion and empathy.
better than lack of understanding, because he perceives it as a complete understanding. to us, in a weird, hypnotic way, it comes across as both at once
He objectifies her. Her makeup, her scent. It's visual, physical -- divorced from the person within. He doesn't want to get to know her; he wants to possess her.
The interesting thing about Lou is I think everyone should learn from him. Everyone should try to adapt to their surroundings and act accordingly to people, obviously not to the extent of Lou or his lack of emotional connection. But there's no denying that he's admirable to some degree. He gets what he wants through adaptation, planning and determination. Too bad he's a psychopath
Literally what I came here to comment, its like a lawyer setting up a closing argument. He's just doing the things humans are supposed to do, compliment each other and ask where they're from (he doesn't ask he instead tells her he's completely researched her). He knows how humans function on a base level, but lacks the nuance or ability to even fake interests to create bonds or relationships
@@amanthangellapally2067 He also doesn't think that, he's not dumb. He knew what he wanted and had the cards stacked in his favour so he went ahead and took it.
I can see why it is only implied later that they had sex, and never shown. That would have been the creepiest, most uncomfortable sex scene ever featured in any movie in the history of cinema.
"Now, when I say that I want these things, I mean that I want them and I don't want to have to ask again. And the last thing that I want, Nina, is for you to do the things that I ask you to do when we're alone together in your apartment, NOT LIKE THE LAST TIME."
@@kevinzhu6417 I sensed that she could -- and did -- cut loose with the drinks regularly when she's comfortable -- but she's not comfortable here. He's creepy but also grotesque in a way you can't turn away from. Yeah, she needs him but she's also fascinated by him as one would be by a wild animal, examining how this other organism exists within the same time and space. Still, her primate brain is screaming for her to keep her wits about her.
No way I'd feel safe drinking around him. He's so slippery and manipulative, you have to stay on your best game to spot the lies and underhanded tactics.
This is more like Little Finger than Ramsay. He's manipulating people and they realize it when it's too late, unlike Ramsay who's just torturing them. He's a smart sociopath, not a sadist who doesn't think long term.
@@Ema-fm5zy nah, he's like Roose. Littlefinger is charming, capable of love, and has emotional revenge fantasies. Roose is a proper, clever sociopath who tries emulating people because he knows that's what you need to do to rule people successfully, but everybody knows he's a creepy, dangerous fuck. His eyes, skin tone, leech therapy, milk drinking, his voice. He's a reptile and everyone can tell - like with Jake in this movie. Speaking from the books' perspective mostly since they didn't try making Littlefinger charming in the show at all.
When you realize that Renee had all of like 6 lines in this entire scene, it's amazing to see what she was able to express and emote. Going from put off to humbled to afraid all within just a few minutes. Meanwhile Jake's character is essentially unfeeling, but masterfully played. Brilliantly done and she is unbelievable.
The nervous politeness of “One’s enough” after the cold offering of another margarita… That’s when you know she knows something’s wrong with the guy. So good.
" I like the dark makeup on your eyes and I like the way you smell." It's little lines such as this one that capture his character and his inability to be in touch with a person any deeper than something superficial. Brilliant.
I think it's interesting that Lou could probably have been made a significantly more likable protagonist if they'd given him some more suave and charm. But instead they made him so despicable and creepy. Takes balls to make the movie like they did, and it certainly paid off.
Movies that are similar to Nightcrawler (Character Study films) are : the most recent film Joker, Perfume The Story of a Murderer, Henry Portrait of a serial killer, Taxi Driver, The King Of Comedy, Raging Bull, There will be Blood, Clean, shaven, A clockwork Orange, American Psycho, Shame, Bad Lieutenant, Drive and Flight.
The only thing that makes this guys character a little unbelievable is that he is almost too good. Almost perfect in terms of his aggressiveness and his ability to get what he wants. He is a true go getter. Which leaves the question of what was he doing before? Why is he all of a sudden a master manipulator and before he was a thief?
because he's found his calling, i guess. found something he is GENUINELY motivated to do, something he relishes, he has a solid dream, a goal...and he's GOOD at it, he's in DEMAND.
He's a product of motivational speech and youtube videos of sorts. Much like his whole persona... everything is learned so he can blend in. He's a sociopath that has learned what normal people deem normal. You have to think of him like a robot that's learning. Nothing he does or says has any motivation or substance, it's a learned algorithm.
Yeah I figured the beginning what with the thieving and the "impromptu interview" between him and the foreman kinda showed some of that sociopath behavior.
Troy - I had to do this to fit in too. I wasn't fortunate enough to be given the easy life and be born with a booklet on how to socialise. Outcasted for sixteen years. I had to research and learn from others to adapt. Don't look down on people like me just because you were privileged enough to be given everything you need to do well in life from the get go.
@Ethan Hagerty are you upset because the word flirtationship is in your daily vocabulary or something lol, like what would make you so angry about a comment like that. im curious.
All pyschopaths are sociopaths, but not al sociopathsare pyschopaths. I'm sure Jake would nail the Joker, but I think he would be much better as the Riddler.
I love the last line. It makes you understand how inhuman Lou is. No one who cares about others would say that a friend is something that you give yourself, because it gives the implication that you are in control of them.
i think that it's a perfect way of summarizing that Lou is mostly a shell of a human- but does not believe that he is. I think it's supposed to mean something about opening up to others, but coming from Lou, it sounds all fucked up
I remember the moment at 3:44 in the movie theater after he says “flirtationship” in that awkward way with the nervous exhale afterward and being physically revolted by it. He’s so damn good in this role it’s unreal.
tetrahedron in space would you like to go out on a date like this? I can arrange it. I like to start most dates with handcuffs and a full body examination.
GOOD fucking acting! Jake really did fantastic in this movie. Come to think of it, I can't really think of any movies that he didn't bring his A game too...
@@orangewarm1 What on Earth? That's how Donnie's character is supposed to be. Lost, dazed, just existing because he lacks a purpose or any drive until he met Gretchen, she's one of the things that pushed him towards his "fate". That's what I got from the film.. idk what you mean by just existing.
@@evega312 Basically fuck your empathy, "friends" are something to be used to fulfill our own needs and interests instead of each others. He took the original meaning purposely out of context to support his proposal.
@@alyxfaust5663 Society functions as needed and able to so if we can get more of what we want by helping others then we do. If we end up serving the needs of the group sometimes we must sacrifice our own life for their safety. And the group working together can often obtain more resources then an individual working only for themselves. These are useful things to know and understand. It doesn't mean we don't value providing for our own needs and wants. We know that we have a better chance of survival within a group then we do going it alone in the world.
That last line is the creepiest part of the whole thing. His view of friendship as people he decides to treat himself with based on what they can provide to him
That’s anyone else too. What kind of fun can I have with this person? How do they make me feel about myself? What do they do for a living? Who do they know? So much pettiness and vanity with people. The difference is those with self-awareness who recognize their selfishness, and those who don’t.
@mateo8120 The difference is that normal people are still aware of and value the fact that others are people too. By which I mean that they consider others' needs, wants, thoughts, and emotions as valuable and equal to/similar to their own. Whereas people like Lou do not. Other people are tools to be manipulated for self gain, and if they get hurt that is irrelevant.
God he's like an alien who's learned how to "act" like a human through watching instruction videos. It's such a crime that Jake Gyllenhaal wasn't even nominated.
perfect description of his behavior. Its like he is trying to say the right thing at the right time as per some protocol that he had memorized rather than seasoned organic interactions over decades as a normal human would.
Yep. He is doing a paint by numbers of how to get ahead Machivavellian style. No nuance, but he is fed up with his loser status, feels he deserves more and bending to his dark, tread upon impulses to seize his moment
This should have been the joker! Not Leto! This man right here, I never though a guy that looked so empathetic could make me feel so...so....concerned.
One of the reasons David Fincher cast Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith in 'Zodiac' was because the director observed "an interesting double-sided" quality in the actor, having seen him in 'Donnie Darko'. I think that quality is most apparent in this film.
To understand this film you need to know that Gyllenhal’s character is the personification of big business. Corporations. The way he thinks and acts is a representation of how big business does. Apathetic, Analytical, doesn’t care about others unless it benefits him. Jake fucking nailed it. Such an underrated film. Nightcrawler and “There Will Be Blood” are essentially the same film.
This scene is incredible. Beginning with jake looking like a complete loser and nina in complete control to the tables totally flipped.Nina terrified and Lou so effectively blackmailing her for sex. Early on in the film they seemed to be two equally shitty human beings but this scene showed lous level of coldness was a complete cut above of the rest
He didn’t blackmail her. He gave her an ultimatum. Blackmail is give me what I want or I’m gonna rat you out. That wasn’t the case here. But other than that I agree with your analysis.
Nina's equal coldness is revealed towards the end she knows Lou is manufacturing his stories by killing people yet the success is too good to turn him in
I just watched this on AMC and noticed they cut this scene from the movie. I have no idea why, and I’m so pissed off because it’s possibly the most important scene for their characters.
I was watching it too on there like 2 days ago. That's why I looked it up on here. It felt so short. I remember thinking these 2 obviously liked each other and it was strange how the movie didn't explore it more. Now I learn that they actually did, and they just cut the clip out. Such a great scene which really gives a lot of depth to his character and personality. I wonder what else they cut out.. I'll have to watch the full movie.
I love how in this scene (and a lot more ones from this movie) you can clearly appreciate how a psychopath manipulates other people, how he's basically saying "you're nothing and if you want to become someone you have to join me", so that they become a couple, work together and then he can manipulate her a lot easier and use her as a tool to reach his goals (like he did with Rick), but luckily Nina is someone really hard to convince and won't get seduced by him, she probably knows how that would end
the way that lou intentionally reacts , acts - and works when with this woman - you can / see / the gears in his head turning , slowly . like he’s not even doing this out of impulse , but he’s doing this with a calculated and motivated sense of jurisdiction . he KNOWS / exactly / what he is doing so he can get exactly what he wants . the DEFINITION of a sociopath . he’s / flat / - downright monotonous throughout the whole conversation . you can see exactly how he’s playing this woman into getting what HE wants .
In today's work, due to the scarcity of resources and people's greed, this kind of situation is quite common; in universities, government agencies, businesses. Humanity is going backwards to the predator creature in the beginning.
I think the original comment is speaking to the fact that Lou seems closer to reality than Bateman. Patrick Bateman is the Superman while Lou is the everyman. A true life sociopath would watch a film like "American Psycho" over and over to copy that film but when they applied it in the real world it would look and sound more like "Nightcrawler."
Small things like how he moves his bottom lip to the side while he talks in this and how he blinked randomly with facial ticks in prisoners is why he makes characters so believable qhen we all know who we're watching. I never zone out and forget I'm watching actors like this
Rene Russo's acting matches with her splendid beauty. Jake's artistic talent is beyond superb and Dan Gilroy directing is amazing. A great film for sure. I don't want to forget abour Riz Ahmed who performed his role magnificently.
I saw this in theaters and kinda forgot about it over the years. This hits different having seen some in-depth analysis of the film. Lou is terrifying.
I love how his "compliments" seem mechanical and rehearsed, genius acting on Gyllenhall's part and makes sense Lou is someone who is a sociopath at best or psychopath at worst he cant feel normal human feelings nor can he interact like normal humans so he tries to emulate it like an ai trying to emulate feelings I mean its there but there is something synthetic about it
When I first saw this scene, it creeped me out. But now that I've seen the movie several times, I have to say that it's kind of funny. I mean, Lou's puppy eyes and not-so-innocent smile, and the way he thinks this isn't a big deal + Nina getting bombarded with red flags, slowly realizing what's going on. And that last sentence takes the cake. XDDD
There is a subtle but unmistakable parallel between this scene and the Texarkana restaurant scene from American Psycho where Patrick Bateman has dinner with Paul Allen.
The thing I love about Gyllenhaal’s role of Lou in this movie is that you can see that Lou is smiling constantly but you can see the evil behind his eyes.
