Ace in the Hole (1951)
Directed by Billy Wilder
An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.
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What critics compared Ace in the Hole to
Nightcrawler is cynical, but so was Network, Sweet Smell of Success, or Ace In The Hole (this film’s very clearly spiritual mentor).
Produced by the director/writer's brother, Tony Gilroy, and edited by his other brother, John Gilroy, "Nightcrawler," as the title promises, takes us into the underbelly of big city "news" removed of all ethical and moral barricades, something like an update of Billy Wilder's classic newsman drama "Ace in the Hole."
If Sidney Lumet’s “Network” and Billy Wilder’ s “Ace in the Hole’’ had a mutant baby, it would probably look like Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler,” a pitch-black satire of local TV news in Los Angeles with an eye-popping performance by Jake Gyllenhaal as the paparazzo from Hell.
Nightcrawler is the directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy), and it’s framed as a movie about the media, with some of the purplish, strident dialogue of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole (1951) or Sidney Lumet’s Network.
As a satire on tabloid journalism, it is in the cynical tradition of Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole.
He is like a Billy Wilder hero (Kirk Douglas’s unscrupulous reporter, say, from “Ace in the Hole”), transplanted to the land of David Lynch.
The clearest stretch of Zemeckis satire in Contact--a survey of the crackpot carnival that's gathered around the earthlings' construction of a Vega-designed spacecraft--is on all counts the weakest, both as an unimaginative rip-off of Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole and as a belaboring of the obvious.
In one sly moment, Phillips has a background reference to Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole , only this time it’s presented as a porn film and not the caustic destruction of the media that the original film is.
The look of Mark Friedberg's production design is very much pre-Giuliani New York, with porn theater marquees advertising titles like Strip Search and Ace in the Hole (not the Billy Wilder film), and the blend of authentic NYC locations with sets is seamless.
The fact of police departments not sharing information, in order to claim credit for solving the case, creates a dysfunctional societal atmosphere akin to Billy Wilder’s "Ace In The Hole."
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“Gone Girl” really nails the almost predatory way in which television news pounces on this kind of story, as well as the relative ease with which the media can be manipulated; between this and the upcoming “Nightcrawler,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a skeevy freelance cameraman prowling the streets of Los Angeles, it’s a reminder of how eerily prescient “Ace in the Hole” was more than 60 years ago, and how relevant it remains today.
She’s a satirical encapsulation of American capitalism gone haywire in the mold of Chuck Tatum from “Ace in the Hole” or Lou Bloom from “Nightcrawler,” antiheroes who spy profit where others see pain.
Not unlike Fritz Lang’s equally misanthropic Scarlet Street, Ace in the Hole plays the squashing of one man’s human spirit for societal-weary gravitas.
If his alien-invasion thriller by way of Ace in the Hole clearly isn’t short on ideas, it seems Peele’s social commentary has gotten slightly broader with each consecutive film.
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Moralism is an unpopular word, but the film’s moralism is not one of final judgment, but as a critique of our values, also exemplified in past classics like Network , Ace in the Hole , and Dr. Strangelove .
As a black comedy, Bernie could use a little more snap; the genre of Ace In The Hole and Dr. Strangelove calls for a satirical conviction that runs counter to Linklater’s relaxed wit.