Nightmare Alley

Like all of Del Toro's films, Nightmare Alley is a visual feast. The production design and cinematography transported me into his grim and glossy dystopian vision.

Also, the acting is some of the best I've seen in one of Del Toro's movies. Bradley Cooper gives perhaps his finest performance, and he sells every unsettling moment of this horrifying cautionary tale as his character is consumed by the consequences of his pride.

The best moments in this story really are some of the best scenes of the year, and they will stick with me for some time to come.

The film's biggest weakness is it's obviously bloated runtime. The second act really meanders and focuses on romantic subplots without giving us reasons to believe that the characters fall in love. A great deal of material should have been either explored more or cut altogether. As it stands, the center of this story is woefully half-baked.

Still, the production design and performances alone make this worth checking out. It really is something to behold.

They should've stuck with the leaner, smarter ending in the novel, because boy was I sick of Bradley Cooper's overacting by then. Ironically, he's playing a character who's repeatedly told not to buy into his own hype, when he needs that lesson more than Stanton Carlisle ever did.

Everyone else is competent at least. I thought at first that Rooney Mara was miscast, but she's playing a very different Molly Cahill from the novel, and does so effectively. Most of the cast are too old for their roles, but I can overlook that. It necessarily deviates from the novel for length, complexity and the practicalities of filmmaking, but also some arbitrary changes that are never improvements.

What's missing is the grandeur and spectacle that keep even del Toro's lesser films from being dull. There are good performances, good visuals, but nothing achieves greatness.

Edmund Goulding's 1947 film "Nightmare Alley" is one of my all-time favourite noirs and it's the film in which Tyrone Power certainly gave his finest performance. Of course, not having read William Lindsay Gresham's original novel I can't say how faithfully it stuck to its source material any more than I can say that this Guillermo del Toro remake, clocking in at 40 minutes longer than the first film, is a faithful adaptation. I did expect del Toro's version to be more 'explicit' than Goulding's but would it capture the seedy vibe of the deliciously unpleasant 1947 classic or would this simply look like a 21st century over-art-directed period piece?

The good news is, that in typical del Toro fashion, it looks great and the period detail is perfectly captured without seeming overdone and it's also brilliantly cast. Bradley Cooper is a lot less appealing than Power as the carny with a dubious past and an uncertain future, which is just as it should be, while as the three women who impact on his life, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara and especially Cate Blanchett are all excellent and there's first-rate work from Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins and, walking off with the picture, David Strathairn.

The bad news is del Toro certainly drags it out. This is definitely a movie that could do with some trimming and worse, apparently there's an even longer director's cut out there somewhere. It's a good yarn and it's well told and as remakes go, it's a cut above but it won't supplant Goulding's classic in my affections nor does it approach "The Shape of Water" in del Toro's canon.

LIKES

The Classy Dialogue: This movie's plot takes place in the 1940s, a different time of talking, culture, and survival instincts that we only can get a glimpse through storytelling. Nightmare Alley manages to help grab the class associated with the high society of the times and how one must speak in the line of Stanton's work. It's an art to designing the lines of not only the past, but also of the high profile of these characters and they did a marvelous job with executing the mannerisms and terminology required to bring the world to full light. It may seem small, but somehow that manner of speaking is a core component to the characters and helps set a lot of the mood for the climactic points of the movie.

The Setting: For a movie all about the dark entrances of the human psyche and manipulation, one has to set the stage for the "hero" to play in. Nightmare Alley accomplishes the goal for me on taking us back into the past where the carnival was a key element of life for entertaining the imaginations of the people. The setting in all acts is beautiful, attention to detail laced in the historical settings of the carnival and the niche that it provided for those down on their lucks. From the visualization of the under stages, to the harsh reality of life during the nights in those tents, you really become immersed in the microecosystem that carnivals were. Eventually the second act sets a new stage and again, the immaculate design of the buildings is gorgeous in the architecture that was once used during those times. The furniture, the clothing, and heck even the radios that were key to entertainment, all hold that antiquated appearance and help pull you into the deceitful world of Stanton's art.

The Acting: Again, a wonderful performance by many of the casted characters, and truly one of the hardest lifters of the tale. Nightmare Alley's star is of course Bradley Cooper, who manages to give another quality performance in the tragic case of Stanton Carlisle. Cooper has seemed to master the art of playing a convoluted character, a realistic human who gets placed into many opportunities and has to make a choice as to what path he will take. That evolution of the character into what he becomes seems to be easy for him, and he does a great job of giving all the emotional running required of him, really being the anchoring point of cast of characters. Cate Blanchett is back in a comfortable role for her, one of elegance, charm, and that dark class of something brewing within her that she sells so naturally. Blanchett's usual anti-hero demeanor from previous works fit very well int his tale, and alongside a wonderful look in the fashions of the time, she fit comfortably in her character. For Collette, the woman seems to have a niche with the darker tales, and this role can be described as Hereditary's bizarre belief with the realistic touch she had in Knives Out. I quite enjoyed her character's inclusion in this movie, a potential piece that held so much sway over Stanton's character, but not in the political way we see movies, but more of a natural character who was just living life. Colette's investment in making such a run of the mill character really stand out without the cheese factor, is something I applaud her for and only wished we had gotten more time with her during the second act. Yet another actress who should get top billing is Rooney Mara, the wonderful actress was hands down my favorite character of the film, who danced with Stanton through much and again had her own changes taxing her moral compass. Mara's work at being subtle and just living life through her character is stunning, and I loved that they utilized her natural beauty and grace in a role that was not extreme in either aspect. Again, I would have liked more time with her, but what time she does have paints the more angelic nature of the film for those who like a little light in their darkness.

The Story Planning: I have not seen the original, nor read any material it is based on, however for a movie by itself, this reviewer appreciates the wonderful planning involved in the detail. Like a lower key Ocean's 11, Nightmare Alley manages to give you a tale that shows just how Stanton became the person he became and uses a few styles that match what a first rate novel accomplishes. The first act is all about him learning the trade and the relationships he formed, while the second is all about the trade's application and how he made it his own, with many pieces explained and smoothly interspersed to make a linear tale easy to follow. Meanwhile, the pasts of many of our characters are baked in as well, sometimes in the form of a flashback, and other times naturally thrown into the conversation for us to pick up on. The writers of the book and screenplay managed to marry both worlds well and I quite enjoyed the level of writing the movie held.

The Visuals: We are not talking about the setting or costumes in this moment, but instead the camera and lighting that del Toro has integrated into his vision of the story. As always, the man plays with darker tales of humanity and his visuals also seem to dance around with these concepts as he brings the psyche part to life. From the eerie colors and ominous grey filter set over the moments of the carnival, to the polished and naturally lighting that other buildings bring, the lighting almost tells the tale better than the acting at times. And when key moments arise, he manages to get the right shot and lighting pallet to unleash the full momentum of the scene and give you the emotional kick that you just never knew you needed.

DISLIKES:

The Predictability: Despite all the elevation of the dialogue and the class, the tale was very predictable for me, lacking little twists and turns. The foreshadowing makes the direction so obvious, including the ending that I had down by the last thirty minutes of the movie. I had hoped for a little more of that del Toro intervention to help get that awe factor into the film, but that may have deterred from the source material too much.

More Time With Other Characters: This is a film about one man's dive into the "mental reading" components that were famous in the 1900s and they indeed do accomplish that task. Yet, there are several characters I would have liked more time in their perspective or more working with them than what we got. Toni Collette is of course the first one I mentioned earlier, and given the alluring character she played, I was hoping for some more time in her work with Cooper given the chemistry they were showing. While they did use her to great potential, I feel there was more that she did and hated seeing it cut out for all the other tales in this film. Mara as well could have had some more moments from her perspective, minor given how much he was ingrained in the second act, but still something was missing to fully link the bricks and drop the hammer on the tale. Yet, the biggest disappointment for me was Blanchett's use in this movie. For someone with top billing and the synopsis plot being there, she really is not the most utilized of the bunch for me and was surprised there was not more done with the power house of an actress that she is. I'll give them the scenes they invested held the power and mind games promised, but she was very much an accessory, with limited time on her shots happening from the shadows more than really investing into the moment. Quite disappointing to be honest and I would have liked to see more of her involvement on screen than off, especially with how fast the ending occurred. Speaking of which

The Pacing: Hands down the worst element of the movie for me is the pacing, particularly how slow the movie feels as time drags on. In the first act, it is not so bad, merely stuck in a few elements of time, but for the most part keeps things going in the study of the act. Sure, there are moments that are a little glazed over, or missing, but the tight focus on getting to the second act keeps it fine. It's that second act that really slogs through the mud, a convoluted mess of visits, walking through hallways, and these teases with Blanchett's character that slowly just circle to the obvious conclusion coming. It lacks the finesse of the carny scene, utilizes its characters to a weaker level, and by the final number has bored so much with the jargon I was starting to fight sleep to stay invested. Then the ending happens, and suddenly things are hastily sped through, and that full moment of the scene is sort of lost and underwhelming, ending on an artistic note that may not be as welcomed.

The VERDICT:

Nightmare Alley accomplishes much in the way it tells the story and the visualization of ta human nature tale with a slight "thriller" element to it. The writing is classy and layered to capture the high society and jargon of the time periods, with natural integration of story into human conversation. Acting wise, it holds a lot of fantas.

From the filmmaker who's always looked for beauty in the grotesque and whose fascination with horror, fantasy, fairy tales & monsters knows no bounds, Nightmare Alley marks quite a departure from his earlier works. While the story features a dark premise and the imagery is infused with gothic flavours, it plays out like a straightforward neo-noir psychological thriller and is devoid of the supernatural.

Co-written & directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim & The Shape of Water), the first act does create an intrigue & mystery about our protagonist and what he may be up to but once the story departs from the carnival setting, the interest does start to fizzle out as it becomes evident where it's headed & how it's going to play out. It isn't necessarily a complaint but for a director of del Toro's calibre, more was expected here.

On the technical front, the film scores high marks with its sumptuous production design that brings its period setting to life in splendid detail. Deft camerawork & amber lighting also add to its noirish tone and the decadent score enriches it some more. Performances are where it delivers the most valuable goods. Bradley Cooper is committed throughout, plus his act only gets better as plot progresses and he is strongly supported by the rest.

Overall, Nightmare Alley is a perfectly fine example of its genre and will keep most viewers invested in its proceedings with its rich production value & impressive acting. However, the characters still remain distant for some reason and the story as a whole feels more or less underwhelming in the end. To sum it up, Guillermo del Toro's latest offering isn't without its charms and has a few neat tricks up its sleeve but nothing about it is original or refreshing.