Allies, the new film by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump), worn by Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard was released this Wednesday. The feature film tells the story of the encounter and romance between an English soldier and a supposed French spy during the Second World War.
A quirky and effective romance:
Allies rests in all respects on its two interpreters, and incidentally on its characters. Brad Pitt remains true to himself, although slightly detached, lacking punch and investment, surprising the French public by trying to speak the language of Victor Hugo. With a pronounced accent, he manages to create the chemistry with Marion Cotillard, surprisingly very convincing, playing with a right tone and managing to pour out the required emotions. A chic romance is then written, which manages to dodge clichés and avoids falling into pathos, finding its quintessence in a sex scene in the middle of a powerful sandstorm and all in subtlety. A romance that is justified by its contradiction with the very oppressive environment that surrounds the protagonists, a violent and murderous World War II environment. Here we detect a way of opposing the power of love to the desolation of this world conflict, materialized in particular by a theatrical birth scene, coming to argue this opposition and this conception of love stronger than anything. However, Zemeckis will destroy this cliché and affirm that sometimes love is not enough to oust problems, with a brilliant, sad and touching finale. The emotional spring is perfectly mastered and the shocking conclusion, the only logical and inevitable end. Zemeckis manages to reach the peak of his feature film at its very end, thanks to a perfectly ordered conclusion.
An action movie?
Allies is not really like an action movie, despite its few muscular sequences. The rare action scenes are of raw violence, very lively and carried out with a lot of rhythm. Rare enough to be extremely exciting, they cut a feature film that would have been long and redundant without these little vitamin shoots. Brad Pitt, releasing his usual class, manages to build his spy character , and we think that, perhaps, the star of Mr and Mrs Smith could have played a sympathetic James Bond. Zemeckis offers some unexpected and relevant twists , very effective and keeping the viewer constantly alert, instilling a paranoia that makes sense through the couple's relationship. The viewer doubts with Pitt's character, wondering who is right, seeking to disentangle the true from the false despite constant manipulation. As for the spy scenes, they prove to be credible. However, the Allies is not without its flaws.
Does the academicism of Allies make it a bland film?
Detractors of the feature film will highlight its prominent academicism and sometimes, its lack of credibility. Many said that no one believed this story, that it could not seem real, especially because of a sometimes very synthesized image. The special effects sound false and give a dimension of superficiality to the feature film. Added to this is the presence of two big movie stars, who do not always give the impression of being invested, and some dialogues a little bland. Allies can therefore pass for a bad movie. Some of the characters' reactions, some sloppy dialogues and some scripted facilities do not go in favor of the credibility of the film, which, sometimes, turns out to be empty and illusory. Allies remains an entertainment, certainly calibrated, but not very original; the irreproachable technique of Robert Zemeckis has a lot to do with it.
Allies, which exists only by the duo of actors, is an effective film, if not frankly original.
