Nightmare Alley

I generally haven't been a fan of most del Toro movies. I like his style and how out-there his movies try to be. But for the most part they don't land for me. So take this review for what it's worth. I was enjoying this movie for a while. It's generally well-made with good performances, especially Cooper. But the story doesn't progress in any kind of intriguing way. I started getting bored. And by the end, it doesn't really amount to anything. So many parts of this movie go nowhere. I felt completely unsatisfied and was happy to leave the theater. (1 viewing, 12/23/2021)

Stanton Carlisle is a drifter with a talent for theatrics and hustling people out of their money. He lands a job at a carnival where he learns the essentials of mentalism from a pair of masters of the art. He also meets the love of his life and the two of them leave the carnival to take his act on the road. Then he meets a psychologist who sees through his façade. A film which on the surface had the potential to be a great psychological thriller. However, it doesn't come close to delivering on its promise. The set-up - Carlisle working at the carnival - takes far too long, resulting in the film feeling likes it's just aimlessly drifting. The carnival section isn't worthless - it shows Carlisle's character and skills, how he learnt his craft and the lengths he would go to in order to get ahead - but it is far too drawn-out. When Act 2 eventually arrives we're already an hour into the movie. I was starting to think of giving up but the introduction of the psychologist, Dr Lilith Ritter, immediately ups the tension and intrigue. However, even now things get drawn out. With my attention re-engaged I figured that I was in a for a thrilling, intriguing, tension-filled, twist-filled roller-coaster ride but the film pulls too many of its punches. Plot development is sedate and conventional and instead of a great twist towards the end the film just peters out. In my mind I was contemplating all the decent, yet largely predictable, twists the film could follow yet the ending didn't even measure up to the most predictable of these. Disappointing.

William Lindsay Gresham's novel gets a second noir screen treatment following the 1947-Tyrone Power version about a self-described hustler in the 1930s who drifts into a traveling freak-show carnival after literally setting his past ablaze. The film has been crafted with style by director Guillermo del Toro (who also co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay-adaptation with Kim Morgan), but it is in no way a profound work--it's all flash. Many will no doubt add their lofty labels to the picture, but I saw it more simply: a rags-to-riches-to-rags melodrama, with a circular finish that didn't sneak up on me or shock me (it plays flatly). Bradley Cooper is solid in the lead role; it isn't a knockout performance, but then I'm not sure either del Toro or Cooper (who also co-produced) meant it to be. Cooper's Stanton Carlisle is, basically, a jerk--an opportunist who seems oblivious of his actions (which is just how Tyrone Power played him in the original). When one of the carnies dies of wood alcohol poisoning--from a bottle given to him by Carlisle, who had to sneak around to get it--we're not sure if this was intentional or a mistake or an act of mercy (the screenplay tries to have it all three ways). Carlisle is haunted--but is it by guilt...remorse...regret? He's an enigma, and a lot of moviegoers will have fun trying to figure him out. Two years after leaving the carnival, wherein he took a hopeful young woman he had emboldened with him, Carlisle has come up with a mind-reading act that he performs with his wife in fancy supper clubs; this is where he comes across Cate Blanchett as a poison-beauty psychologist (and we hardly needed to see Stanton's treacherous tarot card reading to understand she will lead to his downfall). "Nightmare Alley" has a striking Art Deco and snow-swept design that is giddily beautiful--you can enjoy the film purely on visual terms--but the story gives up on itself at a crucial point in the picture. Yes, everything has to go wrong--that's the trap of the "Nightmare"--but the actions of the characters (particularly Rooney Mara's good-girl, Molly) are infuriatingly stupid. Why everyone suddenly has to become hysterical and the plot to lose its logic to get us to that ending is beyond me. It felt like a slap in the face to see the house of cards come down this way. I'm sure all the talents involved thought they were giving us a delicious, twisty plot that would also make us think, but when the people we've been watching and have become absorbed by start acting foolish just to push things along, I sense a calculated and mechanical process behind the imagery. Is the film worth-watching? I would say yes, it's above-average, but it leaves one feeling bitter and used, and I'm not sure if or why del Toro was aiming for such a response. It's a fever dream, but the details don't add up and the action stops making sense. I wanted to feel exhilarated by the protagonist's comeuppance, but the filmmaker apparently wants our sympathies too and it doesn't wash. **1/2 from ****