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Thread: Allied (Robert Zemeckis)

  1. #1
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Allied (Robert Zemeckis)

    ALLIED

    Director: Robert Zemeckis

    imdb

  2. #2
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    This was pretty good, particularly the first act when they're on their mission in Casablanca and getting acquainted with one another. However, the actual romance between the two is suddenly very rushed, which weakens the main plot of the story a bit, as we really don't get too strong a feel for their actual relationship. So despite already being a bit of a slow burn, it honestly probably needed to take its time just a little bit more to really develop their actual romantic feelings for one another, because one minute they're dead serious and focused solely on the mission, and the very next, suddenly they're getting married, and it's like, wait, what? I think we missed something here, lol.

    From the moment that he asks her to marry him, there are a handful of moments here and there that noticeably stand out as lesser moments, such as a childbirth scene in the middle of an air raid with a bunch of nurses standing around applauding stands out as particularly cheesy (though on the other hand, a sex scene in a sandstorm earlier in the film also sounds like it'd be sorta cheesy, yet it's actually one of more effective scenes in the whole movie), but on the whole, I thought this was a pretty good flick. Great performances really sell the tension regardless, and the movie does do a really good job of building a real mystery throughout. All in all, it could have easily been a great film had their relationship been more fully fleshed out, but as is, it was still fine.

  3. #3
    Solid, resolutely old-fashioned construction in service of a solid, no-nonsense plot. Does what it sets out to do without really ever threatening to become anything too thought-provoking or affecting, but given some of the movies I have seen from 2016 that have struggled to coherently tell a simple story (e.g., Suicide Squad), or to coherently edit shots together (e.g., The Shallows), or to have a reason to exist beyond being a marketing extension (e.g., Finding Dory), I'll take it. I'm not sure Pitt really suits the stony-faced introvert he is asked to play here, but Cotillard is well cast and could play this stuff in her sleep.
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  4. #4
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    If Pitt, just serviceable in this, was able to match Cotillard's level in term of injecting modern nuance into larger-than-life star charisma of the past, the film's central dilemma might hit even harder and this might rank among my favorite Zemeckis'. As is, I can settle for a thrilling throwback with some affectingly straightforward drama. But not too throwback that it can't have fun with paralleling the artifice vs "real emotions" in both the story and the aesthetics too. 7.5/10
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
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  5. #5
    This could've been good had there been even a little chemistry between the leads. It's a bad sign when I can't tell a difference between when they are pretending to be in love and when they are actually in love. The only extended sex scene is a showy sandstorm set-piece that isn't at all intimate or erotic. They could've explored some compelling gray moral areas in the second half, but all we really get is a couple thrusts, a quick cut to Pitt washing his face (ugh), and then a casual mention of "you were different last night." What could've been a rich showcase of cognitive dissonance is instead just another bland mainstream prestige film that is watchable only because Marion Cotillard remains a treasure.

  6. #6
    Yes, I do think Pitt's presence is what holds this back.

    Superficially, he's simply too old for the part, and there's just not enough there (in either his performance or the film) to keep it from being a distraction.

    It's competent and entertaining, but by it's nature, it's a film that needs to stand on the shoulders of two massive performances to really transcend. It never gets there. Firmly, a movie that will "exist" in a year or two.
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  7. #7
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    The ending just doesn't land the emotional impact it needed. It's sad, but I wanted to be devastated.

  8. #8
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    I quite liked this. I was only a little held back by the CGI which was way too intrusive here and there. But the classical, well paced storytelling Zemeckis is known for really shines with an old fashioned espionage love story. I agree that the sandstorm sex scene would be cheesy on paper but it was so well executed it actually became one of the highlights of the film.

    I know there are quite a few blatant references to Casablanca but I thought there was also a lot of metatextual dialogue between this film and Inglourious Basterds, specially seeing as Pitt plays a military man who completely fails at being a spy in the QT movie.

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