Movie Review: Nightmare Alley Is A Noir Where The Con-Man Get Conned
Watching Nightmare Alley, I was riveted by a deep, philosophical question: What makes a man evil? Is it nature? Is it nurture? Is life just one journey that we hope avoids situations that bring out our worst as much as avoid suffering the worst of others? Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, like most of his films, this movie plays like a fantastical fable with a deep moral: people don’t fool people…. everyone fools their self.
I, myself, have always seen con-men and hustlers like dark magnets for the brilliantly lit but emotionally dulled. In essence, there are a lot of good people that are so desperate to feel better, they would give what is great about them to someone else for some kindness. It is a sad fact, but yet not every person that is scammed is innocent, which is why Bradley Cooper’s Stanton is riveting. In his best role yet, Cooper embodies the questions I asked above by being a young man with clear childhood traumas, of which people confuse his good looks and quiet pain for someone that is good. Yet, even a jerk suffers, and he is an ambitious one that, under the right circumstances, is able to nurture his drive into full-on greed. Still, there is always a bigger “demon is hell.”
Cate Blanchett’s Lilith is so mysteriously, deliciously horrible. You never quite read her intentions, and, even by the end of the movie, you still are wondering: who is she? What does she want? And was it all a ruse or a real conviction? In the world of scams, it can feel like there is no set belief system beyond believing that you are the system. YOU are the one that controls all. YOU are the one that can have it all, and YOU are the one that can stop anyone that says no. Perhaps, it is for this reason like, every Turkey having its Thanksgiving, a hustler meets his inevitable demise: whether it be by a fellow con or at the hands of someone too good to fall for anyone without a heart, i.e. Rooney Mara’s Molly.
It is SO HARD to make good people interesting. I feel films, often, make them cheesy or “too good” to be true. Yet, humanity is on a spectrum, and good people shine because they tilt towards light like, Molly. Mara brings out the sweet strength it takes to love a “bad guy” and, eventually, love yourself enough to stop. Her chemistry with Cooper feels like a noble goddess falling for a mad king: both ruling different spheres with different powers. She, beautifully, juxtapositions what I felt was Del Toro’s goal: a warning that if you don’t cut the malice within you, eventually, someone will cut the light out of you.
By the end of the film, you feel kind of bad for Stan. Under lush cinematography, that makes this circus-based tale feel like a literal, colorful book in your hand, the entire film MOVES with mysticism. Hence, its ending feels so stunningly, silently EPIC. Yet, it is all based on the wonder and woe of a human being that could have done better, wanted to, but never realized that better materially and better spiritually are not one and the same. Nightmare Alley Comes Out December 17.
