Groveport Messenger - December 26th, 2021

PAGE 6 - GROVEPORT MESSENGER - December 26, 2021
AUTO HOME
Beplerinsurance.com
614.837.4379
staff@beplerinsurance.com
3246 Noe Bixby Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43232
Website:Expert-hvac.com
Phone:614-946-8461
Experthvacllc@gmail.com
Free estimates on
system installs
$70 preventative
maintenance (tune up)
Expert service - affordable prices - Locally owned from Groveport
Mention this ad and get $20 off a $85 service call.
Our Family Caring For Yours
Dr. Sacheen Garrison
5055 S. Hamilton Road
Groveport, OH 43125 614-836-0500
www.groveportsmiles.com
Have you ever come across a recipe you
were sure you were going to love?
While you may have had reservations
about the lengthy prep time or the steps
therein, you were certain the combination
of favored ingredients would be worth the
effort, thus creating a new staple on the
menu for when you need that thing that
hits a particular spot.
Have you ever tried the recipe in question,
the one that on paper made your salivary
glands go all aflutter, and had it taste
like complete rubbish through no fault of
your own. And while you may later recognize
that the “complete rubbish” descriptor
may have been too harsh because you liked
that sprig of mint or something, the end
result was all the same — something that
was not what you wanted, not what you
needed, nor what you expected.
The experience of disappointing food is
an awful and universal feeling — my
regards to your buds if you just recently
tried a new thing and are still exorcizing
that palate — and one that can be applied to
just about any other thing that intrigues
you and ultimately lets you down. For
instance, that recipe metaphor is the
absolute best way I can think of to relay
how I felt upon watching “Nightmare
Alley.”
“Nightmare Alley” is that recipe in a
magazine or a cookbook that catches your
eye. It paints a beautiful and stylish picture
of its product (don’t they all?) but
what keeps it there are the ingredients
promised inside, all of those darker thematic
elements you love immersing together
for what could amount to an unusual
and compelling film.
But, like that recipe from above, the end
result was not something you wanted,
needed, or really expected. Instead, what
you get is a slow simmering and time consuming
mess with just enough panache to
make you not completely hate it despite
however much you may want to.
The film begins with a mysterious flourish:
a body carelessly wrapped in sheets
being dragged across a dirty, dusty floor.
The person doing the dragging is Stanton
Carlisle (played by Bradley Cooper), who
promptly lights the place on fire, but not
before donning a sweet Fedora and lighting
a cigarette as he makes his great escape. In
the silhouette of this scene, the first of
many gorgeous shots peppered throughout
the film, Stanton looks like Indiana Jones
preparing for one of his grand adventures,
but the film makes it clear from the jump
that Stanton is no hero.
Rather than rushing off into the jungle
while on the lam (the film is primarily set
in the Midwest circa the 1940’s), Stanton
finds the perfect spot in a traveling carnival
full of misfits who “pay no mind to what
you’ve done in the past.” Initially, Stanton
takes a job as a roustabout as they go from
town to town but eventually he begins to
learn the tricks of the mentalist trade from
GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE
www.sudslingers.com
“seer” Zeena (Toni
Collette) and her alcoholic
husband Pete
(David Strathairn).
After an inspired act
that saves the carnival
from the wrong end of
the law (think snake
oil preachers who
probably bury “stolen”
money in their walls)
Stanton believes he is
www.columbusmessenger.com
“Nightmare Alley” not a tasty cinematic treat
The Reel Deal
Dedra
Cordle
“ready for the big time” and asks the sweet
natured ingenue Molly Cahill (Rooney
Mara) to join him in a two-person swindling,
er, performing act.
Two years later, the duo has established
roots in New York where they perform
shows for the wealthy in hotels. Through a
complex system of coded words, they hold
the crowd in the palm of their hands as
“The Great Stanton” sees all. What he fails
to see, or really comprehend however, is
just how much his life is going to change
when he meets the crafty psychologist Dr.
Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) and a rich
business owner who wants Stanton to use
his “skills” so he can commune with the
dead.
While director and co-writer Guillermo
del Toro has a penchant for using the
supernatural in his films, there are no true
supernatural elements in “Nightmare
Alley.” Instead, his focus is more on the
horror the living can inflict on another
being, which in my opinion is far scarier
than anything else.
There are so many things to like, and
even love, about this movie: it has a terrific
cast who all give great performances, it’s
stylish and visually arresting, and it has a
punch in the gut ending that makes an
impact despite hints along the way that it
was bound to happen.
But for however hard this film tries to
be something new, something different and
engaging, there is a disconnect in between
how it was presented as a genuine adult
thriller and how it comes across, which is
maddeningly slow and not at all thrilling.
Grade: C
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer
and columnist.
We Have Moved! Now Located At
Rutherford Auto Body
601 Commerce Drive
Pickerington, Ohio
Same Owners • Same Quality
Call us at 614 837 0902
and mention Columbus Messenger for 10% OFF