Susan Granger’s review of “Allied” (Paramount Pictures)
Brad Pitt once observed, “Success is a beast – and it actually puts the emphasis on the wrong thing. You get away with more instead of looking within.” That’s essentially the problem with “Allied.”
Rumors of Brad Pitt’s romancing co-star Marion Cotillard, which either did or didn’t precipitate his divorce from Angelina Jolie, seems to have overwhelmed Robert Zemeckis’ old-fashioned W.W.II thriller.
Pitt plays Max Vatan, an intelligence officer from Quebec working with the British military. The story begins in 1942 as he parachutes onto the Moroccan desert, making his way to Casablanca, where he meets up with Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) an undercover French Resistance operative who has charmed Vichy collaborationists.
Posing as husband-and-wife, they wangle an invitation to a party at the German Embassy, where they – against all odds – successfully assassinate a high-ranking Nazi and flee to London. (Unfortunately, this blazing guns scene was revealed in the Coming Attractions.)
Soon after, they marry, have a baby daughter and settle into quiet domesticity in Hampstead Heath, when they’re not dodging bombs during the Blitz.
All’s well until, unexpectedly, Max is confronted with the RAF’s accusation that perennially evasive Marianne is actually a spy, secretly feeding classified information to Hitler’s Berlin.
Is it true? Or is Max being tested to see if he deserves a promotion?
Echoing with memories of the Brangelina romance that sparked “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” the melodrama never really ignites – although Marianne asserts, “I keep the emotions real. That’s why it works.”
Part of that stems from the stilted screenplay by Steven Knight. And the lack of suspense can be traced to Robert Zemeckis’ uneven, often sluggish pacing.
While debonair Brad Pitt looks dapper in Joanna Johnston’s period costumes, his performance is stiff, particularly since Marion Cotillard seems to relish her character’s inherent enigma. But they’re both beautiful movie-stars – and that distracts from the essential believability.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Allied” is a stylized, superficial 6, oddly paying nostalgic homage to the Ingrid Bergman/Humphrey Bogart classic “Casablanca.”
