Allied

Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is a World War II spy who meets up with French resistance fighter Marianne (Marion Cotillard) in Casablanca for a dangerous mission. After the mission is completed, the two quickly fall in love and when they return to London, her loyalty is brought into question. Is his wife who she says she is?

Robert Zemeckis' career to date has been an interesting one to chart. Back To The Future is obviously his crowning achievement, followed closely by Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Death Becomes Her and Romancing The Stone. Yet, between these, he's made some odd choices and expanded himself out. What Lies Beneath was a quasi erotic-cum-supernatural thriller with a fascinating performance by Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was a brilliantly subversive animated comedy and Contact was, well, divisive. The point is that no two films of Zemeckis' are alike. Allied sees Zemeckis in somewhat unfamiliar territory, working in a genre he knows reasonably well - romantic thriller - and with well-known, high-profile actors such as Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

On paper, Allied should work. In execution, it fails on many levels.

From the very first scene, it's clear that Brad Pitt doesn't have the charisma or presence anymore to carry a film. His performance throughout the film is an odd mixture of looking vaguely constipated or, in some cases, blissfully ignorant of his surroundings or the fact that the camera is on him. Although his performance may be trying to call back to films of the era, it just doesn't translate for a modern audience. We're supposed to believe he's this daring spy, but Pitt plays it with such little emphasis or vibrancy that it comes off as bored. Marion Cotillard, meanwhile, is more interesting. As she's the crux of the film, we're left wondering about her throughout the entire second and third act - but she's so underdeveloped that it's hard to get involved or attached to her. Maybe that's the point of it; that Cotillard plays it with such a sense of detachment that it's actually a statement about her character. Whatever the case may be, it's clear that there's very little in the way of natural chemistry between them.

The supporting cast is impressive, but again does little to add any kind of tension or sense of purpose to it all. Jared Harris is the typical British bulldog officer whilst Lizzy Caplan turns up for a scene or two as Pitt's sister. Again, neither are developed enough to care about them or regard them as anything other than exposition. Matthew Goode appears for one scene and is almost unrecognisable whilst Simon McBurney turns up for a key scene and is then never seen again. In a way, the casting is a microcosm of the film itself - there's some really interesting ideas, but it's all handled in such a cack-handed way that it makes for a frustrating watch.

As mentioned, Steven Knight's screenplay has an interesting concept - but fails in the execution. None of the characters are developed enough for the audience to care about and, eventually, it backs itself into a corner that's impossible to get out of. The finale just completely misses the mark and drives home the point that a good ending for a film of this ilk is desperately needed. Zemeckis' direction, meanwhile, is stolid and stodgy, spinning out certain scenes way longer than they're needed and stifling any of the action sequences from gaining momentum. That said, the production design is beautiful and there's an elegance to it all - but so what if it's this boring?

As a thriller, Allied fails because it isn't thrilling in the slightest. As a melodrama or a romance, it doesn't work because the screenplay doesn't develop the characters enough to care and the actors' performance is too bare and walled off for us to bother to peak through. It might look beautiful, but Allied doesn't have enough to sustain your attention or interest beyond the visuals.