Nightmare Alley (2021) Review
Earlier this week we got the nominations list for the 2022 Oscars. Meaning we saw which movies were nominated for Best Picture. And in March I plan on ranking the 10 Best Picture Nominees. One of them being, Nightmare Alley. So today I wanted to share my review for Nightmare Alley. Let’s get started!
The Good:
For me this was one of the most unique, weird, and creative movies of 2021. Guillermo del Toro has really made a name for himself creating these weird fantasy movies with these weird characters. And he brings all of his bag of tricks to this movie. It’s basically like the fantasy movie genre mixed with the neo noir movie genre and you get this movie. So it’s hard to find a fair comparison in which I can describe this movie.
Another thing you have to talk about with this movie is the direction by Guillermo del Toro. Like I said earlier this movie is what he is good at. He’s good at making these weird movies. And the way that he directs certain scenes is done with lots of talent. And it helps certain scenes better as well as the movie as a whole better. One of the best things about his two Hellboy movies is the direction that he provides for the audience.
This is also a greatly produced movie when it comes to costume and production design both of which are top notch. And both of which got nominated at the Oscars, and both of which made it feel like you went back to the 1940s. And both of which help add this creepy neo noir side of the story.
Another positive for this movie is the score for the movie is holding this movie together with being this super memorable melody that sticks with you. And it makes scenes better with how powerful it can be at some points.
Finally, Guillermo del Toro always gets a great cast for his movies and that is the case with this movie. Where all of the actors present in this movie are giving great performances. In the lead is Bradley Cooper and he’s just a rock solid actor that knows how to act. But the two that stand out for me were Willem DaFoe as this creepy guy that befriends Cooper’s character that is super weird and mysterious. And then the other one is Cate Blanchett who plays this doctor that has this interesting dynamic with Bradley Cooper in this movie. But like I said, everybody in this movie is really really good.
The Bad:
And the big thing here is this movie is way too long. It’s a movie that is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, and I don’t think this movie needed to be that long. It felt like this movie could have been trimmed by 30 minutes making it a 2 hour long movie. And the length that we did get could have been an extended director’s cut released on blu ray. But I just don’t think this movie had the plot for a 2 and ½ hour long movie.
Also, this isn’t necessarily something that the movie did wrong but it does hold the movie back. And that is, I can respect what Guillermo del Toro was trying to do with this movie. But I would say I appreciated this movie more then I overall enjoyed it. Like I said, it’s not something that the movie did wrong but does hold it back.
Final Thoughts: In general, Nightmare Alley is a super creative and unique movie that is interesting, has a great director behind the camera and an all star cast playing these interesting characters. But the movie was way too long and it’s so much of a neche movie targeting a specific audience that it’s not super rewatchable.
The Score: 8.5/10 (B)
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