More middling than matinee
but very few movie couples are – and the pair do a fine job of progressing from loved-up sex bombs to suspicious partners wary of each other’s intentions.
Pitt has this sort of matinee idol down pat, but it’s a change of course for the versatile Cotillard who copes admirably with the adaptation.
The director, though, doesn’t seem to be on as comfortable ground as he takes a step away from high octane, energetic capers and camera work.
Whether it’s Marty McFly travelling by hoverboard, framing Roger Rabbit, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn battering each other with shovels (Death Becomes Her) or Forrest Gump meeting Nixon, Zemeckis has consistently been one of Hollywood’s most visually creative forces.
Allied sees the 64-year-old take a step back to present a solid-but-unspectacular shooting style in what may be his most lifeless flick yet – Pitt and Cotillard play happy families disappointing as Romancing the Stone proved he could enliven a bickering couple-themed adventure.
Zemeckis isn’t helped by Knight’s story cramming far too much into the film’s latter stages as plot points tumble out at an alarming rate, with even Pitt and Cotillard struggling to keep up.
It all culminates in a heartstring-tugging climax that doesn’t sit well with the mix of glamour and danger that’s gone before.
Allied isn’t vintage Zemeckis or Pitt – and can’t hold a candle to Casablanca – but it’s tense, unpredictable filmmaking steeped in nostalgia.