Allied misses the mark

Ian Murdock

Special to the Village News

Having seen the clips for Allied – yet another film centered around WW2 and efforts to stop the Germans – I had pretty high hopes, considering it starred Brad Pitt, as well as a refreshing new face (at least to me), Marion Cotillard.

With a spy theme as the backdrop, terrible graphic violence was not something I was overly concerned about – and the story did not disappoint in that vein.

However, though I consider myself far more patient than most in allowing a plot to develop, the writer and director excelled in pushing viewers to their limit in that category.

"Playing" husband and wife, Pitt and Cotillard delivered clever cat and mouse dialogue as the story evolved, with Cotillard's peripheral frosty edges the highlight.

Unfortunately, this was not enough to keep one engrossed – at least initially – the writer drifting so far away from the other core elements of the story, that one almost loses sight of why the two met to begin with.

Setting up a story is critical – lest we lose sight of the underlying backdrop.

In cookie cutter like Hollywood fashion, the story plodded on, slowly piecing the puzzle together – offering up what was supposed to be "gut wrenching" conflict.

Regardless of the many Casablanca-like dark and smoke filled scenes, one just didn't feel moved.

When they finally reeled the story back together, the latter part of the film was more focused, and consequently more watchable – cinematography and wardrobe at least a plus.

In the end, though, it seemed just a little too late. Allied most certainly falls into the category of don't be fooled by the trailer clips – as they are, in fact, some of the best parts of the film.

My hats off to Cotillard, whose performance – while not saving the film – made it bearable.