Nightmare Alley

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Based on the novel "Nightmare Alley" by William Lindsay Gresham

The mysterious Stanton Carlisle (Cooper) arrives at a carnival and is quickly hired by Clem (Dafoe) to help out around the grounds. Quickly integrating himself into the carny family and becoming familiar with the oddities present, he learns how to manipulate audiences as a mentalist from Zeena (Collette) and Pete (Strathairn). After falling in love with Molly (Mara) they run away to the big city where Carlisle's act as a mentalist becomes a huge hit. This attracts the attention of Dr. Lillith Ritter (Blanchett), who teams up with Carlisle in an attempt to swindle the wealthy Ezra Grindle (Jenkins).

Guillermo del Toro has chosen to follow up his Oscar win with a remake 1947's Nightmare Alley, a film noir classic that delved into the monstrous nature of man that featured Tyrone Power playing against type as the devious Carlisle. Del Toro continues that examination and delivers an even darker film that probes Carlisle's demons even further. This adaptation feels right up his alley (see what I did there?) as he abandons the supernatural themes present in his previous films and focuses on a different type of monster. I haven't read the book but this feels like it pushes the envelope more than the original cinematic adaptation. In true del Toro fashion he pushes the boundary of an R rating, with a few violent and gory scenes.

While the second half of the film follows closely to the events in the original, the first half is where del Toro expands. Carlisle’s time with the carnival is explored more heavily, which allows for more time with Dafoe‘s character and the ever important Geek. I think I enjoyed this part the most and it was where you could feel del Toro’s influence the most. I could have spent more time with that crew and been perfectly happy.

This is a gorgeous film, but we shouldn't expect anything less from del Toro. He continues his partnership with cinematographer Dan Lausten and they play up the noir aspects of the film. Everything from the atmosphere to the set design is top notch, especially the scenes set at the carnival.

This is my favorite Bradley Cooper performance. His take on Carlisle is dense, complicated, and it keeps the audience guessing about his motives. He also offers a much diffferent take on the tragedy of Stanton Carlisle than Power did in the 1947 film. Cooper shares electric chemistry with Cate Blanchett, who has one of her better roles in recent memory as the sultry and devious Lilith Ritter. Rooney Mara is good as the exasperated and forgotten Molly but she can’t quite grasp what makes the character so tragic.

A lot of remakes often miss the point of the film they are remaking. But most remakes also don’t have a director with del Toro’s prowess and love of film at the helm. This helps this be one of the more successful remakes in recent memory.

Grade: B+