William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel “Nightmare Alley” has already been adapted to film, in 1947. The newest iteration, however, features Guillermo del Toro's magical, weird touch.
Bradley Cooper plays Stanton Carlisle, a drifter with a dark secret. Stan falls in with a depression-era carnival, where he meets Clem (Willem Dafoe), who runs the geek show; Zeena (Toni Collette), a sexy tarot reader; and Molly (Rooney Mara), a sweet, young performer with whom Stan falls in love. Stan also gets to know Pete (David Strathairn), an alcoholic mentalist. Pete teaches Stan his system for “mind reading,” and Stan and Molly leave the carnival to create their own mentalist act. They have a successful show until they meet a skeptical psychologist (Cate Blanchett), who introduces Stan to some wealthy, powerful clients and elevates his grifting ambitions.
Do things go well for Stan? Well, by definition, in a noir film, things don't turn out well for the protagonist. If they did, they would call it Film Blanc, now wouldn't they?
Guillermo del Toro is mostly known for fantastical works like "Hellboy" and "Pan's Labyrinth." It is fascinating to see him lend his sense of the macabre to something with no true supernatural elements. (Stan does pretend to channel spirits, but it is always clear that it is a scam.) Del Toro manages to make the simple offer of a drink menacing, and he makes a skinny, blond woman (Blanchett) a terrifying villain.
“Nightmare Alley” is a good film, but it is not great, and I was thinking, afterwards, about why. Partly, it's long. The bigger issue, though, is that in the great noir films, there is always someone to serve as a stand-in for the audience; someone who retains a shred of decency to stand next to us and hold our hand as we observe the sorry state of humanity. Many films have a detective, like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. “Double Indemnity” had the insurance investigator. "The Third Man" had Holly Martins. These character don't have to be perfect, just sympathetic enough to stand in for us as we watch dark people do darker things. In “Nightmare Alley,” Molly is sympathetic enough, and she has a moral compass, but she isn't central enough to the story. Stan is, by far, the main character, and he is far from sympathetic. It isn't a fatal flaw, and I would still recommend the film, but between the despicable characters, the disturbing imagery of fetuses in jars and such, and the film's length, this is one that I probably won't watch a second time.
3.5 stars out of 5
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