Fantastic Fest Interview: Director Dan Gilroy On Gyllenhaal’s Complex Character in ‘Nightcrawler’

Preston Barta // Critic

Open Road’s Jake Gyllenhaal starrer NIGHTCRAWLER closed the 10th annual Fantastic Fest in its U.S. premiere, and Fresh Fiction had the chance to sit down with its writer-director – Dan Gilroy. In our interview (below) we discuss how personal of a film NIGHTCRAWLER is, the complexity of Gyllenhaal’s character and why people are gravitating towards characters like him.

Our Fantastic Fest Review Clip:
NIGHTCRAWLER
, about a freelance crime journalist, is a haunting movie with a stilted atmosphere. Great character studies punctuated by violent action scenes keep the audience immersed in this gripping film. Some powerful performances (especially Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo), stylish direction and intricate plotting complete this whirlwind of near-perfection.

0:33 | How personal of a film NIGHTCRAWLER is.
2:21 | The starting point of the film
3:37 | Gyllenhaal’s complex character
5:39 | How we are gravitating towards rough around-the-edge kind of characters
7:01 | If he could teach a class on parenting

NIGHTCRAWLER opens in theaters nationwide on October 31.

Preston Barta

I have been working as a film journalist since 2010, dividing the first four years between radio broadcasting and entertainment writing in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In 2014, I entered Fresh Fiction (FreshFiction.tv) as the features editor. The following year, I stepped into the film critic position at the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily North Texas print publication. My time is dedicated to writing theatrical film reviews, at-home entertainment columns, and conducting interviews with on-screen talent and filmmakers, as well as hosting a podcast devoted to genre filmmaking (called My Bloody Podcast). I've been married for ten happy years, and I have one son who is all about dinosaurs just like his dad.

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