Nightcrawler (1994)

If Nightcrawler was made 20 years earlier.

Directed By: David Fincher

Plot
Petty thief Louis "Lou" Bloom is caught stealing from a Los Angeles construction site by a security guard. He attacks the guard, steals his watch and leaves with the stolen material. After selling the material at a scrap yard, Lou asks for a job, but the foreman says he does not hire thieves. While driving home, Lou sees a car crash and pulls over. Stringers—freelance photojournalists—arrive and record two police officers pulling a woman from the wreck. One of the stringers, Joe Loder, tells Lou that they sell their footage to local news stations. Inspired, Lou steals a bicycle and pawns it for a camcorder and a police radio scanner. After two unsuccessful attempts at recording incidents, Lou records the aftermath of a fatal carjacking and sells the footage to KWLA 6. The morning news director Nina Romina tells him the station is especially interested in footage of violent incidents in affluent areas. Lou hires an assistant, Rick, a young man desperate for money. To give his footage more impact, Lou begins tampering with crime scenes and in one case moves a body. As Lou's work gains traction, he buys better equipment and a faster car.

Lou coerces Nina into a date and threatens to terminate his business with her unless she has sex with him. A sexual relationship is implied. The next day he turns down a business offer from Loder, who beats him to an important plane crash story later that night. Nina berates Lou to get better footage and keep his end of their bargain. In retaliation, Lou sabotages Joe's van; when it crashes, Joe is severely injured and Lou records the aftermath. Later, Lou and Rick arrive before the police at the site of a home invasion in an affluent neighborhood. Lou records footage of the gunmen leaving in their SUV and of the victims in the house. The news staff fret over the ethics of the footage but Nina is eager to break the story. In exchange, Lou demands public credit and more money. Police detective Frontieri questions Lou about his connection to the home invasion. He gives her edited footage of the home invasion, cutting out the parts with the gunmen. That night, he and Rick track down the gunmen; Lou plans to follow them to a more crowded public area, then call the police and record the ensuing confrontation. Alarmed, Rick demands half the money Lou stands to make, threatening to tell the police about Lou's crimes; Lou agrees.

When the gunmen stop at a restaurant, Lou phones the police. They arrive and exchange gunfire. One suspect is killed while the other manages to escape in his SUV. The police give chase with Lou and Rick tailing and recording. After the gunman's SUV crashes, Lou urges Rick to film the gunman, claiming he is dead. The wounded gunman shoots Rick through the glass and tries to escape but is shot by police. As Rick lies dying, Lou films him and tells him that he cannot work with someone who has leverage over him. Nina is awed by the chase footage and expresses her devotion to Lou. The news team discovers that the home invasion was actually a drug deal gone wrong; Nina refuses to report this information to maximize the story's impact. Police try to confiscate the footage for evidence but Nina defends her right to withhold it. Interrogated by Frontieri, Lou fabricates a story about the men in the SUV following him; Frontieri suspects he is lying, but cannot prove it. Lou hires a team of interns and buys new vans to expand his business.

Cast

 * Nicolas Cage as Lou Bloom
 * Jane Fonda as Nina Romina
 * John Leguizamo as Rick
 * Clint Eastwood as Joe Loder
 * Chris Cooper as Frank Kruse
 * Oprah Winfrey as Detective Frontiere

Rating
Rated R.