{"id":24019,"date":"2021-12-15T20:10:19","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T04:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=24019"},"modified":"2021-12-15T20:10:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T04:10:19","slug":"nightmare-alley-takes-viewers-on-a-dark-and-disturbing-carnival-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=24019","title":{"rendered":"NIGHTMARE ALLEY Takes Viewers on a Dark and Disturbing Carnival Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This feature from Searchlight Pictures opens nationwide\nat cinemas on December 17th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, the term \u201cgeek\u201d refers to a nerdy, eccentric\nperson with quirky interests. But this definition for the word is a fairly recent\none. Not so long ago, it meant something entirely different and far more unsettling.\nFilmmaker Guillermo del Toro certainly wants to bring the original meaning back\nwith his new film Nightmare Alley<\/em>, as well as take viewers to the days\nof second-rate carnivals populated with a few shady characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Based on the acclaimed 1946 novel by William Lindsay\nGresham, the story follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a man running from a\ndark past. He skulks through a traveling carnival, charming owner Clem Hoately\n(Willem Dafoe) and earning himself a position on the staff. After learning\neverything he can about the carnies, he turns his attention to befriending a mentalist\nPete Krumbein (David Strathairn) and his wife Zeena (Toni Collette). After a warning\nabout not using the gift to manipulate clients hoping to communicate with deceased\nloved ones, the lead is taught the trade and becomes an excellent psychic performer.\nHe woos a sweet performer named Molly (Rooney Mara) and convinces her to leave\nwith him and the start their own show. Despite their success, Carlisle isn\u2019t\nsatisfied, befriending psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) and\nteaming with her to grift Chicago\u2019s most powerful citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cooper is playing a con artist who isn\u2019t the most likable of protagonists, but still possesses enough charisma to keep viewers watching and help introduce us into the world of carnivals. In fact, the entire cast are excellent and appear to be having fun living in the unique, circus-like onscreen environment. As one might already have guessed, the movie itself looks stunning, with phenomenal production design and photography. Early on, the bright lights and dark hues of the carnival backdrop make a striking impression. As the story progresses, even the art deco city buildings and offices pop off the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The world is captivating, but there is a minor flaw or two with\nthis adaptation. While this reviewer hasn\u2019t read the novel, he assumes that all\ninvolved likely followed the source material very closely. The unfortunate\ndrawback is that there is a lot of time spent with Carlisle working at the\ncarnival. It\u2019s all interesting, but there are so many different performers introduced\nwith that it takes significant time for the grifting and main conflict to\narise. Yes, a great deal of what is presented in the first half of the movie is\nimportant to the story. But given the direction where it ultimately heads, one\nor two of the supporting parts could have been clipped down or perhaps even\nremoved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite the pacing issues, the movie is still fascinating to\nwitness. And the second half is where things really hit their stride. We\nwitness Carlisle toss aside the advice of those who taught him and see the\nramifications of this decision. He must also deal with those attempting to\nexpose him as a fraud, endure trouble within his own relationship due to his\nscheming and watch him engage with some very dangerous people during a\nclimactic scam. There are some enjoyably dark turns and a great deal of tension\nas the protagonist gets in over his head, but still doggedly attempts to win\nthe day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early sections of Nightmare Alley<\/em> do require\npatience, but the old carnival backdrop and its strongman, the memorable \u201cgeek\u201d\nand other performers do draw and hold attention. And as noted, things do get\ncooking as the movie progresses, leading to some tense and nail-biting final\nconfrontations. It might not be a perfect experience, but it is a fine film. This\nreviewer wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see the movie earn at the very least some nominations\nin technical categories in the coming awards season.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature from Searchlight Pictures opens nationwide at cinemas on December 17th. For many, the term \u201cgeek\u201d refers to a nerdy, eccentric person with quirky interests. But this definition for the word is a fairly recent one. Not so long ago, it meant something entirely different and far more unsettling. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro certainly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,741,3294,3395,3923,4000,4438,5344,6251,7883,8139,8720,13693,14883,14884,14885,14886,15072,15922,16456,17353,18373,23076,24299],"class_list":["post-24019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-adaptation","tag-book","tag-bradley-cooper","tag-carnival","tag-cate-blanchett","tag-circus","tag-david-strathairn","tag-drama","tag-freakshow","tag-geek","tag-guillermo-del-toro","tag-mentalist","tag-nightmare-alley","tag-nightmare-alley-film-review","tag-nightmare-alley-movie-review","tag-nightmare-alley-review","tag-novel","tag-period","tag-psychic","tag-rooney-mara","tag-sideshow","tag-toni-collette","tag-willem-dafoe"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}