Review: Allied
The term "old-fashioned" has become a bit anathemic in the not-so-recent decades as far as movies are concerned. Movies, whatever the level of their verisimilitude, shall always be fabrications and Allied, an alluringly old-fashioned romantic drama of love and betrayal, is a strictly cinematic concoction with little concession to concrete realities.
The film is set in 1942 and in Casablanca of all places. Of all places since the majority of its elements obviously recall the classic Casablanca, which was released in 1942 and itself less concerned with the nuances of its political climes than ornamenting its swooning romanticism with the personal and professional loyalties compromised by the exigencies of war. Casablanca is a major touchstone as are Notorious and The English Patient, all certainly setting high bars that Allied sometimes but not always clears.
The film begins with a striking shot of a man parachuting onto the North African desert before making his way to a nightclub in Casablanca, where he is warmly greeted by his wife who is ready to show off her long-absent husband to her friends. If the impossibly attractive couple are too good to be true, it's because they are. The man is Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), a Canadian intelligence officer, and the woman is Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard), a French Resistance fighter, who have been tasked to act as husband and wife in order to gain entry to a glittering reception where they are to assassinate a high-ranking German officer.
"I keep the emotions real, that's why it works," Marianne informs Max during their first encounter, and the couple's masquerade melts into genuine mutual attraction. Allied works best in this first half as the couple keep up appearances, with Marianne directing Max to kiss and embrace her and laugh and smile as everyone is always watching. Performance can be an essential part of attraction - and one can see how Max can't help but fall in love with Marianne, especially as Cotillard is arguably at her most intoxicating. Their romance culminates in a passionate frolic in the front seat of a car as a sandstorm swirls around them, a scene straight out of The English Patient playbook and one whose protraction is particularly indulgent on the part of director Robert Zemeckis.
From there, the assassins stage their attack, firing their weapons as they swan about in their finest finery - he in a tuxedo, she in the an envy-inducing sea foam green satin number - and with the survival of their mission comes marriage, a baby girl born during the Blitz, a home in London's Highgate, and act two of the narrative. Believing he's up for a promotion, Max is instead slapped with news that his wife is a German spy, she is leaking classified information, and Max must personally execute her or find himself hanged for treason.
If the film falters during this section, it's more to do with the uncertainty of its pacing rather than Pitt's performance, which many may consider too passive and internalised. Yet the way he's kept his emotions in check in the first half pays off in the second when his convictions breed suspicions. Conversely, Cotillard becomes an appropriately elusive and ambiguous present as the Marianne's true nature comes into question. Yet the lead duo's portrayals cannot overcome the bloat that creeps in during this section.
Nevertheless, Allied is a highly engaging affair, well-directed by Zemeckis and beautifully rendered by his production team.
Allied
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Written by: Steven Knight
Starring: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode, Simon McBurney, Anton Lesser, August Diehl
