As is expected from Guillermo del Toro, this is an interesting one. The universal positive here is the acting. Bradley Cooper and Rooney Mara are both excellent, as is the entire ensemble, with Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and David Strathairn being the standouts. Cate Blanchett was perhaps the only one who I was less on board with, but I think that has more to do with the writing than with her performance. As far as the story goes, this film is divided into two very distinct segments: (1) Stan's life with the carnival; and (2) Stan's life with Molly in the city. For me this structure resulted in what felt like a pacing issue. After moving very quickly through the first segment, with numerous time jumps keeping things progressing, things seemed to slow down in the second segment. This might have to do with the fact that the story narrows significantly. The opening segment was more slice of life; establishing the setting, the characters, and their relationships. Character driven rather than plot driven. The second segment flips this around and becomes very plot focused. I can't help but compare the two segments and unfortunately the second doesn't quite deliver on the promise of the first. Character reversals and reveals felt rushed or unearned (e.g. [spoiler]Cate Blanchett's final scene in particular felt very contrived[/spoiler]) and the main conflict itself felt somewhat half baked. At the heart of the story is also the phony mentalism, which started to wear thin for me, as it doesn't exactly make for exciting cinematic material and starts to strain my suspension of disbelief. Luckily, even some of these questionable elements are largely saved by the fact that everything else about the film is so damn good, including not only the aforementioned acting, but also the stellar costumes, set design, directing, dialogue, and pretty much everything else that goes into filmmaking. And beyond that, the movie is also able to steer itself into an appropriately nightmarish ending, tying back to all of the great groundwork from the opening section. [spoiler]I found it quite appropriate that Willem Dafoe's tremendous monologue about recruiting geeks would be the critical building block of the final scene. Plus Tim Blake Nelson does an excellent job in his brief cameo executing the devilish plan Dafoe outlined.[/spoiler] As an aside, soon after finishing this film I learned that it was a remake of an apparently well reviewed 1947 film, which was in turn based on a 1946 novel. While I'm not normally one to watch two versions of the same story back to back, in this case I'm tempted to watch the original, as I'd be interested to see how this story was told back when it was more contemporary (the story takes place from the 1930s-1940s). The period piece elements of this film are so intentional and well realized that I can't help but wonder if the original would feel a bit bland in comparison, as the setting/era might be less of a focus.

This is great! I loved it! 'Nightmare Alley' is a superb watch! I particularly enjoyed the beginning and end, which are truly excellent; the middle part isn't as strong, but is still top notch in its own right. I love the dark atmosphere it sets from the get-go, the sound design is outstanding - some bits are so striking and I love it! It has a quality, engrossing story to boot. Bradley Cooper leads the cast with quality, though he isn't even the sole standout of the film. He is joined by a whole host of terrific performers: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, David Strathairn ... I could go on, simply phenomenal casting! I wanted more of them all, and yet felt I got the perfect amount too. The 150 minute run time went by incredibly quickly for me; if I hadn't known it was on for that long, I would never have guessed its length to be anywhere near that. It's a slow burn, but a slow burn done tremendously. Guillermo del Toro - this is the first film of his I've seen - & Co. did a super job, I have no complaints at all. I was toying for ages between a 9 or a 10 rating, it just about creeps its way into the latter. Just brilliant. Go watch!

Another Del Toro film that feels more like an excuse for showing off art direction than an actual film. Bad pacing, kinda empty (very light on story, drama, tension, emotion or anything interesting in general), predictable, and even the acting is a bit hit or miss. I didn’t buy Bradley Cooper’s performance as a scam artist, and Cate Blanchett is really overselling it. The rest of the cast is pretty good though. As already mentioned, the production makes up for a lot of the flaws, but I just feel like Del Toro’s talents would be better served if he’d chosen a career as cinematographer or art director. Besides _Pan’s Labyrinth_, I just find a lot of his stuff very dull and overly indulgent, often emphasizing style over substance. This thing is no different. 4.5/10

This movie was a good watch. I don't think it was del Toro's best work, but it was good none the less. My favorite thing about this movie was the way it was shot. The whole cinematography was amazing. The feeling of the movie was on point as well. You really felt like you were transported back in time into the 1940's. I disliked the overall pacing of the movie. It's on the slow side, especially the 2nd act. I would have gave this movie an extra star if it wasn't for that long and slow middle part of the movie. The beginning of the movie really draws you in to this world. And the third act is when this movie really shines. The whole cast gave really good performances. The writing was good too, nothing to cliche. Del Toro really is good at creating a unique atmosphere to his work, and this movie is no exception. Overall this movie was good. Not great, not amazing, just good.

I was hoping for more. This was predictable. The ending especially. I liked the atmosphere of it all but that was about it.