“Nightmare Alley” (** out of four) was a pointless black comedy about a self-styled hustler (Bradley Cooper) who becomes tired of his way of life and then meets a cunning female psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who he realizes too-little/too-late is even more dangerous and deranged than he is. Writer/director Guillermo del Toro employs his usual cheeky visual style and dark wit but it’s told with too heavy a hand and goes on way too long at over two-and-a-half hours. Blanchett is first-rate as usual and gives her scenes a wild and seductive charge and Willem Dafoe, David Straithairn, and Rooney Mara do what they can in minor throwaway roles.