Movie Review: “Accidental Love”

Starring
Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, Catherine Keener, Tracy Morgan, James Brolin
Director
Stephen Greene

“Accidental Love” did not have a smooth production process, and it shows in the stitched-together final product. The comedy was initially a David O. Russell film titled “Nailed,” shot all the way back in 2008. But due to funding issues, the movie never completed principal photography, and what was once Russell’s “Nailed” is now being released under the pseudonym Stephen Greene as “Accidental Love.”

The film centers on Alice Eckle (Jessica Biel), a small-town, roller-skating fast food waitress. On a night out with her boyfriend (played by the always reliable James Marsden), Alice not only gets a ring on her finger, but a nail in her head thanks to a freak accident. Making her situation worse, Alice doesn’t have health insurance, meaning she can’t get the nail taken out unless she magically comes up with $150,000. And until her condition is taken care of, she’ll experience uncontrollable emotions and wild thoughts. Ultimately, Alice heads to the nation’s capital and enlists the help of young congressman Howard Birdwell (Jake Gyllenhaal), who, with the assistance of a few friends and familiar faces, will try to change the health care system in order to get the nail removed from Alice’s head.

Anyone expecting a sharp political satire will walk away disappointed. “Accidental Love,” which was co-written by former Vice President Al Gore’s daughter, Kristen, is a hugely broad comedy. The film has more in common with a sitcom than movies like “Bulworth” or “Wag the Dog,” but that doesn’t mean “Accidental Love” isn’t without its laughs. When a cast includes James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Kurt Fuller and Bill Hader, not all jokes are going to fall flat. Marsden continues to prove he’s one of the most undervalued comedic actors working today. The former “X-Men” star has no shortage of charisma, so it’s baffling that this guy still isn’t a huge movie star. Marsden is a supporting player here, but he comes away stealing the show, even during the redundant and awkward post-credits sequence. As for Biel, it’s impossible to come away from “Accidental Love” without feeling bad for her. She’s charming and funny in a way audiences haven’t seen from her before, fully committing to the lunacy of this story.

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Movie Review: “Nightcrawler”

Starring
Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Director
Dan Gilory

Though it isn’t your typical Halloween movie by any stretch of the imagination, Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler” might just be the most frightening film of the year – not in the scares it delivers (because there are none), but rather the chilling peek that it provides behind the curtain of a completely different kind of horror: local TV news. This isn’t the first time that subject has been satirized before in cinema (perhaps most notably in Sidney Lumet’s 1977 Oscar-winning film “Network”), but “Nightcrawler” tells its debauched tale of immorality in the newsroom through the eyes of a Rupert Pupkin-esque antihero more frightening than any masked killer. The cinematic influences are boundless in Gilroy’s directorial debut, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing a truly exceptional thriller highlighted by a wickedly entrancing, career-best performance from Jake Gyllenhaal.

The actor stars as Louis Bloom, a petty thief who’s willing to put in the hard work and make a career for himself if someone will just give him a chance. As luck would have it, Louis finds his calling when he passes by a fatal car accident one night and notices the freelance cameramen filming it in all its bloody glory. These guys are like the storm chasers of the TV news world – driving around at night waiting for tragedy to strike so that they can catch the mayhem on camera and sell the footage to whichever news station is willing to pay the most. After trading some stolen loot to a pawn shop in exchange for a camcorder and police scanner, Louis hits the ground running, and before long, he sells his first video to Channel 6 news director Nina Romina (Rene Russo), a kindred spirit of sorts who favors ratings over ethics. Louis has no shame in the barbaric manner in which he captures these moments (to him, it’s just part of the job), and that makes him very unpredictable, because once he gets a taste of success, he’ll do whatever it takes to get the best shot, even if that means crossing lines that aren’t meant to be crossed.

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