Nightcrawler (2014)

Alan Smithee's grandfather, Mr. Smithee, was able to buy a house, raise a family, and purchase a new car every six years while working a blue-collar job in the press room of the Grand Rapids Press. Those days are over.

But Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) gives us hope that the American Dream is still alive, at least for anyone with a camcorder who is willing to shove his way close to gruesome car accidents and murders. Bloom finds a need and fills it. He builds a successful small business. It is a success story for our era.

Alan Smithee has been indifferent to Gyllenhaal in the past, but with Prisoners (2013) and now Nightcrawler (2014), Gyllenhaal has shown that he can entertain. It is a pleasant surprise. Perhaps he can teach it to his sister.