Movie Review: Nightmare Alley

After I finished watching Nightmare Alley I was a bit irked. The raw, instant feeling I had after the credits rolled was fuelled with disappointment and annoyance. I have a deep appreciation for anything Guillermo Del Toro puts out. As a visionary creator, I think the man stands proud in the imaginary and vivid worlds he creates. Whether it's Pans Labyrinth, Hellboy or The Shape of Water I know I'm in for a very good time with anything this man creates Having that prior expectation might be why I didn't respond to this movie all that well.  Maybe it's a problem more with myself than it is with Del Toro but I'll try define thee thoughts a bit more.

Nightmare Alley is a film adapted from a 1946 novel of the same name. It follows Stanton Carlisle (Played by Bradley Cooper) as he sets ablaze to his dark past and finds himself work in a carnival. Within this carnival he meets a wide array of interesting carny's which include the geek  wrangler Clement "Clem" Hoately (Played by Willem Dafoe), the clairvoyant Zeena Krumbein (Played by Toni Collette) and the electrical performer Molly (Played by Rooney Mara). As the days go by Stanton learns the art of cold reading from Zeena and begins to refine a trade he uses to make a name for himself. Over the course of the story we see Stanton develop a career which ends up making him cross paths with the alluring psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Played by Cate Blanchet) who entices Standon to further pursue his dark vices. 

The narrative of the film isn't bad, in retrospect I think I was too harsh on it initially because it wasn't the weird and crazy sort of story I usually expect from Del Toro. What is here is a fairly strong story of man's greed and vices consuming them. It's filled to the brim with symbolism and nuance and it's core strength is layered in the dissection of Stanton's character. I like how each of the characters he interacts with in the movie while distinct to their own persona's serve a purpose in contrasting or influencing Standon's own personality. I think it's a story in which the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. I say this because I feel the 1st half in the movie feels way more compelling and enjoyable when compared to the 2nd, but to appreciate the symbolism layered in the narrative you have to suffer through the tedium to do so. I don't think this makes up for the boring pace that consumes the latter half of the story and I can't shy away from the fact of how much it drags down the storyline to a unyielding grind; but I can at least acknowledge the intent behind it and the necessity it has to the original story.

While the narrative isn't perfect and is layered in issues I can find a lot more to appreciate in the artistic design of this film and the acting behind these characters. Del Toro has a very distinct style and while there's no supernatural elements to the story, there's definitely a dark and gothic tone layered into the visual design behind it all. Set design and costume design reek with his usual style and I feel the character's inhabiting this world utilise it all so seamlessly. The other element which I think deserved more credit from me initially was the acting. Bradley Cooper plays this role brilliantly, the complicated and deeply layered emotions behind his character are so easy to read through Cooper's acting. Same goes for a lot of the other cast too. Even though he's not in the film much I really appreciated Dafoe's presence in the story and how he set's up the comparative cues throughout the movie. I can't fault the character performances here, Del Toro utilised a star-studded cast to the best of his ability. 

I think if you go into this film not expecting the usual Del Toro themes and concepts you may come out of it with a better appreciation. My biggest gripes aren't nullified in light of this though. I still think the narrative struggles under it's own weight and it really loses steam in the 2nd half but I can't fault the visual style and the character acting here. In retrospect, Del Toro left his mark in this story in a different kind of way and I can at least appreciate that it's a different kind of film in light of that. It's not perfect, but still may be worth your time.