by Nathaniel R
one of many memorable images in the trailerGuillermo Del Toro has never been what one might call an Oscar-bait director, as his preferred genre is the fantastical monster movie. And yet with his inspired auteur's eye and significant command of craft he bucked the odds to helm two movies Oscar just adored, the creepy mythological creature filled fantasy Pan's Labyrinth and the sea monster in love Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. So now he's most definitely an Oscar player. This time up he's doing a remake of the great 1947 noir Nightmare Alley which featured Tyrone Power's all time best performance and two fascinating female supporting roles. Will his latest movie be another Oscar player or another Crimson Tide (which people were very excited about in theory until it became reality). But, more importantly, will it be great? Let's do the Yes No Maybe So™ breakdown of the new trailer after the jump...
YES
• C'MON PRODUCTION DESIGN! (And the other crafts, too). At the very least this will be breathtaking to look at and score a few technical Oscar nominations. At the most it will be popular across the board and hog nominations in all categories. The production designer is Tamara Deverell who has mostly worked in television (Star Trek Discovery, Suits, The Strain etcetera) prior to this though she has several smaller films under her belt, too.
• The story of Nightmare Alley is really solid foundation and Del Toro's remake appears to be hewing closely to the original which is definitely a two act structure, first act in the circus where a newbie named Stanton (Bradley Cooper) gets mixed up with the carnies (Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, etcetera) and learns the trade, and second act in upscale theaters with a new dangerous partner (Cate Blanchett) as Stanton moves up in the world to work a more lucrative "psychic" grift.
• That cast sure is spectacular. Cannot wait to see what Toni Collette, in particular, does with her (very good) role as a washed up psychic with an alcoholic husband. Bradley Cooper is wonderful with actresses so it will be a treat to see him paired with not one, not two, but THREE great ones in this narrative.
• We love a teaser trailer that doesn't give away much of the plot so this one is smart to just convey mood and the grand visual designs. We'll surely get the more usual 'here's the plot and some dialogue' trailer later. But teasers are better.
NO
• As with all remakes of already great movies this one will have to offer a reason for its existence. Will it?
• Also though this looks beautiful/glossy/glamorous there's also a lot of green tint which, together with the period, trappins looks a lot like Shape of Water. The only filmmaker who is allowed to not rethink his palette to make sure it's the right one for *that* particular film is Almodóvar. (kidding kind of. yes, this is a nitpick but we needed something in the "no" section.)
MAYBE SO
• In truth I rarely love Cate Blanchett when she plays villains. She's such a STAR and my god the camera worships her but she makes more obvious choices when playing evil roles and is thus less surprising. Also one hopes that they've beefed up or complicated the Rooney Mara part which is not-at-all interesting in the original.
• The Willem Dafoe narration is stronger in concept than in execution. I had to listen to it three times to make out what he's saying due to his strange cadences, the overall trailer sound mix, and the very distinct common-in-trailers probability that this is a longer speech all chopped up for dramatic short form backdrop for visual clips. But it doesn't make a lot of sense when chopped up and smooshed together.
Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe
Is he man or beast?
This creature has been examined by the foremost scientists and pronounced unequivocally a man
I am prepared to offer you folks one last chance to witness this supreme oddity.Where did it come from?
Forgotten by the same [????] that got us all walkin this earth but gone wrong some how in maternal womb [???]
Is it a beast? Or is it a man?
You're in luck because tonight you will see him feed.
Come on in and find out: is he man or beast?
• The trailer is also bit misleading because it plays like a supernatural monster movie (a bit) rather than the humans can be monstrous vibe of the film noir genre. Of course it's only a trailer and they always go for what sells.
So are you a Yes No or a Maybe So? But if it was always a "yes" did this trailer move the needle for you at all?