Please know that I recognize that the following statement is somewhat of a cliché, but I can't help myself: Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley reminded me why I go to see movies in the theater. It's a spectacle that must engulf you to be fully appreciated. And it helps when a film has its perfect ending, an ending that's both surprising and the only logical conclusion at the same time. Like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, No Country for Old Men, and Die Hard... each movie has it's own perfect ending, and if it can be found, it makes all the difference in the world. Please also note that I'm heaping extravagant praise on a film by del Toro, who's last film, The Shape of Water I utterly despised. I'll admit that del Toro's style and sensibilities haven't changed, actually he has always been a director with a distinct style and vision. I believe that it was the twisted message that caused me to dislike The Shape of Water, and I don't have a similar issue with Nightmare Alley. To the contrary, there's actually an interesting moral arc that del Toro creates, which is interwoven with the path that the main character takes from the opening scene to the end.
On my way home from the movie last night I had a chance to talk with my son Jude, who hasn't seen Nightmare Alley yet, but was more than happy to talk about movies in general. Somehow our conversation strayed into comic book movies, and specifically we were discussing how Marvel movies are extremely entertaining while you're watching them, but don't have any lasting value. I think that the same is true for the storytelling style of del Toro in Nightmare Alley; it was a crazy show, with a jarringly violent climax, which was followed by a perfect ending, but you had to be there to get the full effect - now that it's over, it's time to move on to what's next.
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