A sunny Los Angeles looks extra dark at night. Nightcrawler (2014) tells the story of a deeply troubled man (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) who takes his job as a freelance cameraman for a local news station to terrifying heights. Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom, an open-eyed, sociopathic entrepreneur who longs for the American dream in the worst possible way. Once he discovers that there is money to be made in gruesome crime scenes and videos of fatal car crashes, his determination to be the best grows as his measure of humanity disappears. On his way to the top, he acquires an exquisite Swiss replica watch that has never been completely at home on his wrist.
This weekend is the Belmont Stakes Festival, and what better way to prepare than to watch a disturbing, utterly dark thriller? In this high-stakes film, Louis Bloom rides around Los Angeles on a red (with black racing stripes) Dodge Challenger SRT8 with 800 horsepower. High Stakes …… Belmont Raceway …… Horsepower …… Horse racing – well, that’s a stretch. But it’s a cool movie with a cool watch.
It’s a movie with one watch, and the one on Bloom’s wrist is one that we don’t see on screen very often. The Breitling Chronomat Evolution. It’s an early to mid-2000s vintage watch with a great sense of period. It has a large 44mm case with a white dial and shockingly bold numerals on the subdials. It has the iconic Chronomat bezel and crown, representing the height of the big watch “moment”. There is nothing about its design that is clean or utilitarian. It is meant to be large, loud and luxurious – as the non-tapered stainless steel strap emphasizes.
More interesting than the copy watch itself is how Gyllenhaal’s character acquires it. We first see the watch in the opening scene and, more importantly, when we learn just how dark and disturbed Louis Bloom is. He steals this Breitling and wears it for the entire duration of the film, but it never quite fits. Most of the time we see it, it’s hanging on him (often upside down). Gyllenhaal lost an incredible amount of weight for the role – resulting in his character being bone-thin – so the 44mm size looks enormous on his malnourished wrist.
Off-topic: Gyllenhaal seems to be a bit of a fake rolex watch guy in real life. On the film’s promotional tour, he wore a copy Rolex Milgauss ref. 116400GV – a black dial variant with green crystals and an orange lightning bolt seconds hand – that was equally loose on his wrist. But it’s important to remember that Gyllenhaal is no Bloom (thank goodness) and this is not what he wore in Nightcrawler. OK, back to the Breitling.
We first see Bloom grabbing a pair of wire cutters and trying to break through a fence to steal some copper wire. He is quickly caught by a security guard. As he is being interrogated, Bloom looks down at the guard’s wrist and spots his replica watch (must be a HODINKEE reader). At this point, we get a nice close-up of the watch [00:03:20], but then things get bad – very quickly – as he beats the security guard senseless. Then the film cuts to him driving a rusty old Toyota hatchback. In the early morning light of Los Angeles, he has his watch in his hand and analyzes his huge haul.
Next, we hear a police radio report of a car accident in the neighborhood. Blum says, “Crash, people hurt, the neighborhood’s fine.” Then he places the Charger at the crime scene. He takes a new flashy camera with a blinding hot shoe video light and interviews witnesses [00:39:56]. As he does so, his oversized replica Breitling watch dangles from his modest wrist – the watch’s case almost a full inch from his body. Then he begins to push the boundaries of ethical behaviour, all in the name of the evening news. It’s one of many frenetic scenes in which the watch is fully exposed to view; it’s not just an accessory.
