The trailers for Allied weren’t that compelling, but it came out at the right time. I went in with a little bit of interest as Brad Pitt often wins me over. However, Marion Cotillard was the highlight of the cast. I kept forgetting that Robert Zemeckis directed this and I usually give him the benefit of the doubt. The film felt a bit sluggish and yet managed to keep me into the story with its constructed tension. Allied gets the Decent Watch rating.
Allied is a love story set in WWII, but that doesn’t make it great
Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is a sent to Casablanca to assassinate a German leader during World War II. He is teamed up with Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) who has infiltrated the German occupation. As they wait for the mission to complete, they fall in love and make plans for after the mission to move to London and marry. However, it’s not long after they wed that suspicion about her allegiances rise.
Brad Pitt’s character is quickly established to be a loner type character. His cool demeanor is melted by Marianne and the sexual tension mounts as they await their night. He plays the role fine, but the character is a little unpredictable. The way he reacts never really makes sense and often seems contrary to the man we initial met. Cotillard was really great on-screen though and found her to be charming. Their love spawned quickly in the middle of the war. It leads to some extremely intense scenes and a challenge when confronted with the possible truth of her being a double agent.
The film has some cool visuals, but also some silly moments
Zemeckis did some cool time progressions as Max proposes it cuts to the wedding. From the wedding, Max places his hand on her belly and then we are seeing her in labor. Yet, when a year passes rather than giving an organic cue to the change words appear on screen saying a year later. It’s little things like that, these inconsistencies of the storytelling methods, that seem to bring this film down. It drags in the beginning, picks up to get us to the year later, and then drags again. There are moments of tension, but they are basically not. It feels like tension, but they always conclude with the realization that there was no need to be worried. Pitt will be safe because he is the hero.
For the most part, I had no issues with the film while watching aside from it feeling a little long. I wanted what Max wanted throughout the film. His desires were able to warrant empathy from me. However, as I reflected on my overall take it felt like something was missing. Not a horrible film, but not an exceptional one either.
Berkreviews.com 