Allied
/"Deception is an art. Truth is a test. Is love a lie?"
Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4
War films have never been a sweet spot genre for film, I find that most of the time the violence is over the top and they will kill characters just to pull at your heartstrings. They look more sentimental than any film should however when you look at the secret dealings of war from the spy angle I become interested. You move from a war film to a thriller and I have always loved the suspense that can be given from a well crafted thriller. Even some films that most people consider lesser like Valkyrie and The Monuments Men are films that I find more enjoyable than half of the war films that are released. However this film had something that made me cautious when entering the theatre, the director Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis has been too involved with trying to move technology forward that he is forgetting how to tell a story. While I overall like some of his recent films like The Walk I kept fearing that he would try to outdo himself when it comes to any scene involving computer generated images. I found most of my hopes filled but some of my fears also came true with the latest film from Zemeckis.
1942. Casablanca. Hitler’s forces are marching into the West conquering more land and more leaders fall to the fear of Hitler. Canadian intelligence officer Max Vatan, played by Brad Pitt, arrives in Casablanca with one goal: to assassinate the German Ambassador. Since the mission is going to be tricky to pull of by himself he is assigned to work with French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour, played by Marion Cotillard. Romantic heat between the two rises as the stakes of the assassination also rise. The assassination does succeed and the two run off the eventually marry and have a child. However happiness seems to be at an arm's length for the couple when evidence arises that Beausejour is a German spy. Devoted to his wife Vatan spends the next few days trying to prove his wife’s innocence but he finds himself spiralling down into a world of moral corruption.
The casting of this film I found to be rather interesting. Brad Pitt hasn’t had a memorable starring role since Moneyball in 2011 and while his films continue to make money he is clearly not the box office star that he used to be. As for his actual performance in the film I found it to be completely flat during the first act of the film. He seemed like he wanted to have nothing to do with the film, just a complete look of uninterest. But once the plot of the film is introduced life is sparked into Pitt and he proves that he can be a leading man once again. As for Marion Cotillard she has been great in every film I have seen her in, from La Vie en rose to Macbeth she proves to always have a spark. She cannot give a bad performance on camera and since the plot becomes more interested in what she is doing in the latter half of the film, we as an audience cannot keep our eyes off her. Basically the film becomes the Marion Cotillard show which works because she is much more believable in the skin of Marianne Beausejour than Brad Pitt ever was in Max Vatan.
I need to address one of the most laughable scenes in the film and it involves the desert of Casablanca. If Robert Zemeckis and his digital effects team cannot make a desert look real and your two stars look like they are clearly in front of a green screen, you then either cut the scene which in this case you cannot because of the actions that the two take or you rewrite the scene to do it in a manner that makes the scene believable. Perhaps if the scene weren’t so pivotal for the plot then I might be able to forgive it but most of the actions that occur for the rest of the film derive from this terrible looking scene.
While it might not sound like I enjoyed the film I truly did, once the actually plot of the film begins I’m on the edge of my seat trying to overthink every possible twist and turn that the film is throwing at me. The film drips with tension during most of its running time and even after the mysterious have all been solved you are left with a final twist that asks “what would you do?” Films that make me think after the film are ones that I in some way will always recommend. When you are faced with one of the biggest acts of betrayal would you stand your ground and prove that the acts were faked and didn’t actually happen or would your allegiance stand with your country that you have sworn to protect.
If you were to mix Casablanca with a Hitchcock film you would end up with Allied and if that sounds as exciting to me as it should for you then rush out to see this latest from Robert Zemeckis and Steven Knight.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G
Intelligence officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and French resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) are stationed together in North Africa. It is in the heat of WWII and their mission is to pose as a couple and then assassinate high up Nazi officials. Well, when you are as attractive as these two people are, pretending only lasts so long and soon they fall in love. After the assassination was successful, they move to London, get married, and started a family. After Marianna gets accused of being a Nazi spy by Max’s agency, it is up to him to uncover the truth.
Allied was a movie that I thought would be a standout film this year. You have amazing star power with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, and also a fantastic director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future films) to bring this story to life. While the directing was great, the costume design was fantastic, stunning cinematography, and the feel of everything was very lifelike and put you back in the 40’s, this film just really didn’t connect on all levels. While I did enjoy this film, I felt that it could have been a lot better.
One of my biggest flaws with this film is that it is at its core a love story and in order to make it work, it has to be believable. While Marion Cotillard was fantastic, Brad Pitt was very wooden and lifeless for a large segment of the film. I'm not sure if that was just the writing for his character or what but something just didn’t feel right with his character. Because of this, the romance doesn’t quite come across nearly as strong as it should have. There is some redeeming grace in the final third of this film for Mr. Pitt but by then we are playing catch up with his character and the believability of the romance and that’s never good with a love story.
My other big flaw with this film is that it draws too much comparison to that of the classic film Casablanca. I felt that it was striving to reach this mark but failed to reach that level of the classic feel and emotional pull. Having said that, I did really enjoy Allied as a whole, even with its flaws and all. This was a slow building thriller that really does keep you engaged and wondering what will happen in the final act. This to me was more than enough to keep me entertained and interested in the story.
Overall, I would not say this is a fantastic movie by any means but was still worth the movie ticket. It offers a good story, beautifully shot scenes, some beautiful people, and great costume design.
Rating: See It
-Nick