Set in 1941, this film noir/psychological thriller is exactly what you’d find in the pages of those True Crime pulp fiction dime novels that sold in drugstores and newsstands of the day and kept you on the edge of your seat until the final page. Bradley Cooper is our “antihero”, Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, and from the first scene to the last, you know he’s just somehow a bit off. He plays a homicidal grifter and we all know the saying, “you can’t con a con man”. We get a view from the backside of Carny life, not as romantic as “Water for Elephants”, but as stylistic and visceral as any good film from the 30’s and 40’s that plays on your fears. This one’s in color and it’s blood red. Cate Blanchett is in top form as psychoanalyst, Lilith Ritter. She slinks through the film like a snake in the Garden of Eden wearing Edith Head designer gowns. The set-design and cinematography is a---mazing. Guillermo Del Toro doesn’t hold back on the gross factor, there’s sex, drugs, séances, and living the high life on razorblades. If you’re not a vegetarian after watching this, you may give it another thought, just sayin’. Definitely not for the kiddies. Rating: Tastes Like Chicken and Everclear aka 3.75 stars. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN9y_r3FtrQ
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