We run the Night

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), out of work and with a criminal record, finds an outlet for his burning ambition by entering the world of crime journalism. Disturbingly real, and with cringe-worthy acts from Louis that make sure that he gets the most shocking story every night and drives up TRPs, and with a partnership with the morning news director of a deadbeat news channel – Nina (Rene Russo), Louis finds that crime – or its grisly aftermath – does pay, and how. Handling competition and crime victims with a ruthlessness that borders on psychopathy, this Nightcrawler is a must watch, perhaps not for casual family viewing

16/20

The Hopping Prince

 

 

 

“See something you like?”, asks the captive Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) coyly, as she hides the dagger that can reverse time, from our protagonist, the adoptive Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal). Very spunky and a little flirty, Tamina however does not steal the show from Prince Dastan, who pulls off the near-impossible – exposes a great treachery wrought upon his adoptive father King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), defeats the king’s treacherous sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and becomes the new regent of the kingdom. With no little help from the eponymous acrobatic skills of the Prince of Persia (The Sands of Time) and a little timely intervention from the dagger than can reverse time. Quite entertaining, and never a dull moment, this one went by almost unnoticed

 

12/20

Time Stands Still

The smartly up-and-coming Jake Gyllenhaal, as Colter Stevens, has his work cut out shuttling back and forth between an indeterminate living state, and “projection” into the last eight minutes of the existence of a Chicago-bound train. Over successive rounds of moral suation, exhaustion, and growing attachment to one fellow passenger Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), Colter Stevens is tracking down his quarry – the erstwhile bomber on the train, who currently has larger targets on his mind. However, if Colter Stevens succeeds at this novel form of time-travel detective work, does it mean eventual commercialization of the technology behind Source Code, or an ending that would be closer to the audience’s heart? The movie adds nothing extraordinary or illuminating to the sci-fi genre, but is well-executed and quite a watch. In the meantime, Jake Gyllenhaal awaits his train to the next level in Hollywood to fully exploit his rather obvious thespian talent

14.5/20