Nightmare Alley (2021) Sorry to be away so long without a post.....but as nasty fate would have it, COVID struck the BQ homestead......
But since we' were all double-vaxxed and boosted here, the worst it could it do to us was just a long nagging cold with a stuffed up nose......
Viewing this movie, which we drooled with anticipation for, didn't make the weekend go any better.......
A major, major disappointment. And we say that as a dedicated fan of director Guillermo del Toro......that made the letdown with this film even worse.
We couldn't think of a better director to fashion a modern remake of the original, darker-than-dark 1947 film about a sleazy carnival grifter (Tyrone Power in his best performance) undone by his low greedy ambitions. (See our post of 5/8/19 for our full scoop on this 5 star gem......)
What an opportunity for GDT to let his freak flag fly high.......carnival freaks combined with creepy vile characters of every variety......Oh yes please!
The new "Nightmare Alley" does in fact look, gloomy, gruesome, cruel and weird......and there's the problem.
It's all "looks" and no movie. Instead of plunging you into its strange twisted story the way the original film did, , del Toro's film sits back and wants you to admire its craftmanship and artistry.......much in the same way you'd flip through one of those 80 dollar, seven pound coffee table books filled with carefully posed photos.
For 2 and a half hours, the films stay stubbornly inert, never developing a pulse. It's a film whose style demands your attention to its meticulous style.......but all you can do is stare at it like it's hanging in an art gallery.
There's no sense talking about the story and the actors here......everybody and everything's carefully arranged.....posed. A movie that appears superb in still photos.....but actually watching it unfold becomes a tedious, uninvolving chore.
By all means, don't pass up any opportunity to see the 1947 "Nightmare Alley", where 20th Century Fox leading man Tyrone Power s stepped way out of his 1940's Big Star comfort zone to fully embrace this walk on the dark side.....
This new version? Sorry, nothing more than a 2 star (**) meh at best. And along side "The King's Man", yet another giant disappointment.....sorry to say.
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