By Darlene
Donloe
The opening
scene of the drama Allied has Brad
Pitt parachuting behind enemy lines.
He plays Max
Vatan, a World War II British intelligence officer stationed in North Africa in
1942.
He’s there on a
mission to assassinate a German official. He is paired up with a French
Resistance fighter named Marianne Beausejour, aptly played by Marion Cotillard.
Beausejour, who has never met Vatan, pretends to be his loving wife. Careful
not to blow their cover, the two must keep up appearances in order to gain the
confidence and access to the German elite.
When the mission
in completed, the two spies fall in love, marry and become parents. Everything
is fine, well, as fine as anything can be when you’re part of the intelligence
community.
Vatan’s world is
rocked when his superiors inform him that his wife may be a double spy.
Refusing to
believe the allegations, Vatan, who truly loves his wife, sets out to prove
them wrong.
Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard
That’s when the
movie starts to kick in. From that point on every move Vatan makes and every
move Beausejour makes look and seem suspicious.
Is she a spy or
isn’t she? The audience literally
doesn’t find out until the very end of the film.
Out in theaters
nationwide November 23, Allied (Paramount
Pictures) is being marketed as a sexy, suspenseful thriller.
There is some notable
intrigue in this old-fashioned film, and more than a few sexy model-like
close-ups of Brad Pitt. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Surprisingly,
this “sexy” thriller displays very little chemistry between the two leads. There is a love scene that takes place during
a sand storm that should, in theory, melt the screen. It doesn’t. The sound of
the sand is annoying. The heat that should rise from their claimed love is only
lukewarm.
Brad Pitt
Ironically,
Cotillard’s character says several times during the film, “I keep the emotions
real. That’s why it works.” It’s ironic because the film lacks emotions.
Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump/What Lies Beneath) directs this interesting drama. There are
several old school sweeping vista shots giving the film a special texture. Zemeckis’
film is a throwback to a particular era, most notably the Casablanca-ish film
noir of a bygone time. The story is inviting, but the execution doesn’t quite
pull it all together. Both Cotillard and Pitt, who has done several WWII films,
give good performances, but their romance seems stiff.
Marion Cotillard
The film feels a
bit like Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Allied, directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Steven
Knight, stars Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan, Matthew
Goode and Simon McBurney.
ON THE DONLOE
SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah)
and E (excellent) Allied gets an L
(likeable).
Allied is Rated R: (for violence, some
sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use);
Running time: 2
h 4 min.
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