How timely. I mean, it’s always been a ripe issue for the movies (going back to ‘Citizen Kane’), but as social media has become a perfect tool for forcing the issue, it’s really become a hot debate: who decides what is ‘newsworthy’?  And from there: where’s the line between reporting/documenting what you see, and creating/instigating the news to drive profit/get attention?

That’s the bigger theme in this film anchored by Jake Gyllenhaal (reminding us that yes, you can build a movie around him).  I say this with the utmost respect, actor to actor, because who really turns down the ‘franchise movie star’ roles and paychecks if they’re offered to you?  But I don’t find it remotely coincidental that when Jake went back into Donnie Darko/Brokeback Mountain/’You have nice eyes but there’s something…not quite above board going on’ territory, he nails it again.

The setup here by the way is Jake is one of these creepy night owl types who worms his way into the news business as a journalistic, version of an ambulance chaser.  You know, one of these types who uses his police scanner and GPS to show up at crime scenes to sell their footage to the news stations.  I can’t be too mad, these types have been good about staying out of my way and not trying to discover my secret iden…

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You know, it’s a good movie.  Check it out.