Almost perfect. While it may not even end up in my top five movies of the year, Tom Ford’s (A Single Man) Nocturnal Animals was almost perfect. I liked it so much in this movie, and Ford almost created a masterpiece, but it fell short. An A- for sure. Maybe even an A. But it won’t be the 49th movie I’ve seen that would classify as an A+. Jake Gyllenhaal (Love and Other Drugs, Everest) is better than ever, and he could end up with an Oscar nomination for this film. In a perfect world, he would, especially since he may have been the odd man out in 2015 (Nightcrawler) and 2016 (Southpaw) for a Best Actor Academy Award. But with four of the five slots pretty much locked up (Tom Hanks – Sully, Denzel Washington – Fences, Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea, Joel Edgerton (Loving), that leaves only one more nomination between Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Warren Beatty (Rules Don’t Apply), and Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge). And, honestly, while his performance was excellent, it wasn’t nearly the performance he gave in either Nightcrawler or Southpaw. Ford’s chances for a Best Directing nod look even dimmer, and an impressive performance by Amy Adams (The Fighter, American Hustle) may be overlooked entirely because she will likely receive a nomination (and may even be the frontrunner) for Arrival, a movie that was released just a week before Nocturnal Animals.
Category Archives: Jake Gyllenhaal
Everest (2015)
I know I am in a significant minority when I review this movie, and I know many will wonder what I’m talking about. Everest just wasn’t a very good movie. I realize that many have never seen a mountain climbing movie or, worse, have only the likes of Vertical Limit to compare it to. But before I get too far into my review of Everest, let me mention a few mountain climbing movies that I would watch a dozen times again before forcing myself to watch Everest. The most notable one to me is a recent one that most people have never heard of. Depending on who you ask, it’s 2008 (or 2010) German released North Face (Nordwand). It takes a few minutes to get past the subtitles, but it’s worth it. This movie is horrifying in its detail of its climbers experiencing some of nature’s most brutal physical elements. There is also Touching the Void. There is also K2. Heck, I think I’d even put Cliffhanger up there as a more entertaining movie. And while it’s not about reaching any sort of summit, the absolute best climbing-based film is the fantastic 127 Hours, one of the best two hours you can experience with a film (side note…watch the director’s cut). But as far as Everest goes, I had extraordinarily high hopes for this film. And it disappointed on just about every level.
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Southpaw (2015)
History probably will not remember this because he missed earning an Academy Award nomination for the first performance and may again miss out on this one. Still, the physical transformation from Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as sickly, twisted reporter Lou Bloom in 2014’s fantastically crafted Nightcrawler to the lean, mean, fighting machine Billy Hope in 2015’s Southpaw is remarkable. As people watch either or both of these movies in the future, I think they will fail to remember that he filmed these two movies back to back. But aside from how he changed the physical look of his body for each of these roles, his acting performance in each of these films might be the two best in a career that continues to hit all the right buttons, save for The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I’ll first see Southpaw that the less you know in, the better off I think you will be. So if you haven’t seen it, I will list my overall score of the film here, and I would suggest not reading any more until after you’ve seen the movie or if the surprise factor isn’t something you are interested in. I will alert you when I add spoilers to this review. I would give Southpaw an overall score of 87.5/100.
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Nightcrawler (2014)
It’s getting closer and closer to awards season, and I have continued to wait for that one movie that will establish itself as the movie to beat before the real crop of contenders comes out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unfortunately, some of those I thought would show themselves, especially Boyhood, Gone Girl, or Birdman, have failed. So, the movie to beat at this point is still The Drop. But first-time director Dan Gilroy has made his claim with the creepy Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers, Prisoners) Nightcrawler. I am sure this will be just one of two movies I’ve seen thus far that will wind up in my end-of-year Top 10. Others are there now that, I’m hoping, will fall as we get into the meat and bones of December. But The Drop and Nightcrawler seem to have cemented their spots.
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Brothers (2009)
Brothers, the Tobey Maguire/Jake Gyllenhaal/Natalie Portman collaboration, had the opportunity to be the very best movie of 2009. The trailer, showing a mentally unstable Maguire as a decorated soldier returning home from Afghanistan after being purported dead, shows us one thing is for sure…this isn’t the Tobey Maguire we are used to seeing in Spider-Man, Seabiscuit, or The Cider House Rules. From the three-minute movie trailer alone, I knew I would see this movie the day it came out because I was gripped by Maguire’s turn from a loving husband and nurturing father to a menacing psychopath.
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