Jake Gyllenhaal filmography character, a "sullen" and "schizophrenic" teenager, made him a cult hero. Although the film was critically acclaimed, it failed commercially. Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow", which, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, was a commercial success at the box office. In 2005, he co-starred as Jack Twist opposite Heath Ledger in the romance drama "Brokeback Mountain". The actors portrayed two men that fall in love during a sheepherding expedition. The roles earned both Gyllenhaal and Ledger critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations. That same year, he starred in the drama films "Jarhead" and "Proof".
Jake Gyllenhaal by Denis Villeneuve in 2013 – Gyllenhaal described meeting Villeneuve "as if I'd met an older brother". The first of films to be released, the thriller "Prisoners", starred Gyllenhaal as a detective named Loki in search of the abductor of two young girls, one of which is fathered by Hugh Jackman's character. "Rolling Stone" critic Peter Travers praised Gyllenhaal's "exceptional" performance in the film. In their second collaboration, Gyllenhaal starred in a dual role as a history teacher and his doppelgänger in the thriller "Enemy". In 2014, he produced and starred in the crime thriller "Nightcrawler", receiving a Golden Globe