Robert Zemeckis' movies are not getting enough love from critics. Allied, and his previous one The Walk, should have gotten a much higher score on RottenTomatoes.
For Allied, I thought the pacing was brilliant. To move so seamlessly and without the feeling of slowing down, to introduce the two leads of Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, to have them fall in love, give birth, and then on to the accusation and suspicion; all within two hours and it didn't feel like two hours. That's a feat.
Even though this is the award season, like The Walk, Pitt and Cotillard will probably not be making into the top five best performances when the Oscar nominations are released. But both of them gave great performances that their close-ups sold their emotions even more. I thought Cotillard just edged out Pitt slightly and she made me forget that atrocious Assassin's Creed.
Steven Knight's screenplay, though credit is due for making it tight, some of the dialogue coming from Cotillard to Pitt could have been better. Some of their scenes together didn't feel as natural as they could have been.
But also, during one of the big reveals, I was baffled about the choices that Cotillard's character had made. Things were not quite clear cut in the end, without going into spoiler territory, but perhaps that was what the movie was going for?
And for a movie that's more drama heavy, there were surprisingly more action than anticipated. And the action and suspense were also expertly crafted by Zemeckis that they were highly enjoyable.
I also loved the addition of Jared Harris; but even more so, the intensity and tension provided by Simon McBurney in just that one scene was delicious.
Watching the trailers, I didn't have much expectation. It looked slow and I was never that big of a fan of Cotillard's work. But after watching it, I was so satisfied with it.
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