Starring Bradly Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen. Written by Kim Morgan and Guillermo del Toro. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Budget $60 million. Running time: 150 minutes.
This is a hardboiled crime noir, filmed in sumptuous full-colour, detail-rich glory, and art-directed, and costume designed to within an inch of its life, in a word this film looks beautiful. Featuring a superb cast, and a good script, this also has a brutal touch that sees del Toro feast on sudden intense bursts of gory violence, that are sure to have you wincing.
The film, set in 1939, follows penniless drifter Stan Carlsle (Bradley Cooper) a man with a terrible secret as he tries to escape his past by joining a travelling carnival. Starting at the bottom by tending to the alcoholic Geek, Stan learns his trade and leaves some years later with a mentalist act and a beautiful young assistant Molly (Rooney Mara). It’s not long before he’s risen to the top of his game and performing a mind-reading and clairvoyant act for New York’s elite as The Great Stanton.
Which is where the film, after about an hour or so finally gets going.
From then on, it’s Stan’s rise to the top as the Great Stanton before his inevitable descent after falling for the wrong girl, psychologist Dr. Ritter (Cate Blanchett), and getting mixed up with some truly sinister folk along the way.
Unfortunately, I guessed the ending, annoyingly right off the bat and so when it finally arrived I was disappointed, which is a shame because I loved so much about this film, especially when it was set purely in the carnival, and Stan's character was far more likeable, but once he became the Great Stanton, I found myself disliking him greatly. In fact, I wished the carnival had been the focus of the film, there were so many characters and incidents that craved ones attention and I longed to see what happened to them, especially because we're given a glimpse of their demise.
A well made and intriguing film that I wish had resonated more with me.
8/10
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