Nightmare Alley (2021, R)

Best Picture nominee #3! This is my favorite of the ones I’ve seen so far, but I still have yet to be wowed. I do understand the Best Picture nomination, though, and I think its other nods are well-deserved.

Stan is doing what he can to get by during the tail end of the Great Depression when he gets an offer to take up with a traveling carnival. Soon, he’s nurturing an affection for the Amazing Electric Girl and learning the tricks of the mentalist trade from a former master showman turned drunk. The more Stan masters the craft, the further he sets his ambitions.

That summary is a little bit vague, but the film goes on quite the journey and I don’t want to get into spoilers. It’s based on a novel that already has one film adaptation, a 1947 movie starring Tyrone Powers. Despite some very modern filmmaking, the story has an old-fashioned sensibility whereby everything comes together tightly, weighty with symbolism and karma. I enjoy the behind-the-curtain look at life in a carnival, both the clever/enterprising aspects and the cruel/underhanded ones. For me, the first half of the film is more engaging than the second, but it maintains an interesting story throughout and I was curious to see how things would shake out.

This is the latest from Guillermo del Toro, but for me, it lacks some of the fascination of his superior works, like Pan’s Labyrinth or The Shape of Water. It’s not just because there are no genuine creatures here. The movie feels just a little cut off from the emotion of the story, like a number of the characters are holding us at arm’s length. I suppose the fact that this is an adaptation, not an original, is a factor, as well as the weight that “from the brilliant mind of Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro” now carries.

That said, creatures or not, the design and feel of the film are pure del Toro. Every scene, from the side show tent to the performers’ wagons to a luxuriously-austere psychiatrist’s office (it works, trust me,) pulls you right into the world that’s being created. The film was nominated, very deservedly, for its production design, costumes, and cinematography.

Another “look at all our white people!” movie (for the record, The Power of the Dog is incredibly white as well, but Don’t Look Up and Nightmare Alley are both more the type that I’m talking about.) Bradley Cooper does well as Stan, especially as he grows in his abilities as a mentalist, although I have to say, there’s a lot of dialogue that makes me think the character is meant to be much younger. People at the carnival are constantly calling him “kid,” “boy,” “young buck,” etc., which suggests a character who’s probably 30 at the absolute oldest. This does throw the dynamic off a little, particularly against Rooney Mara as Stan’s carnival sweetheart Molly. Toni Collette and David Strathairn give standout performances as a psychic and her alcoholic lover. Cate Blanchett gives superb ice queen, there’s a nice turn from Richard Jenkins, and the film additionally features Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and Tim Blake Nelson. Everyone is good, but the performances fit together in such a way that I understand why no one was singled out for an acting nomination.

Lastly, I do want to give a shoutout to a couple of minor characters in the carnival. Mark Povinelli plays Major, a performer with dwarfism, and I appreciate that he’s an actual character rather than just a bit of visual “color” added to the carnival scenes. I also like seeing Troy James, a real-life contortionist, performing as the Snake Man. Using an actual human who can do that kind of act is in line with del Toro’s love of practical effects, and it’s so much cooler than if it was all CGI. (Also, this is how I learned that James played Rag Doll on The Flash, meaning those effects were largely practical as well! Very cool.)

Warnings

Strong thematic elements (including torture and slavery,) violence (including some violence against animals,) sexual content, language, and drinking/smoking/drug use.