I like to say if you see me it’s the worst day of your life! -Lou Bloom

Jake  Gyllenhaal is Lou Bloom, a driven man desperate for money who wants more from life than  just stealing items like chained up bikes and selling them to pawnshops. He tries to get hired at places that he sells hot merchandise yet but is snarled at in contempt ” I’m not hiring a thief!”

He stumbles into a  carjacking one night in LA  and sees how fast the paparazzi arrive on the scene, even faster than the cops  and overhears  Bill Paxton on the phone selling a single shot for 300! He asks him if he’s hiring and he says no but he realizes he could work for himself if he just had a decent camcorder and police scanner.

He gets his first graphic footage and sells it to news director  Nina (Rene Russo) at a low rated station she is impressed at how close he got and says bring us more urban crime whenever you can

He takes that a little too literally and will do anything to get the first scoop! this is a movie  with not a wasted moment . It is  sad just  how news has stooped to  showing  graphic stories for shock value and ratings  “if it bleeds it leads” Really makes you see paparazzi in an even more unflattering light  and shows just  how  immoral ethically  news media has become , as we also saw in Gone Girl.

Jake physically transformed himself by losing 30 pounds and his eyes look so haunting when combined with his piercing gaze. His performance here is reminiscent of  Edward Norton’s breakout performance in Primal Fear where you never know what to expect from moment to moment  good side or psychopathic side who ALWAYS gets what he wants. He also wins Worst Boss of the year award from me. I do think it would be a crime if he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar next year!  4.5 out of 5