Allied

Starring: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two spies (Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard) fall in love on assignment.

Review:

Tim: I have to say, Allied just didn't look interesting to me. We've seen so many World War II movies and this one felt too similar to so many others. The only reason I sat down to watch it is because Robert Zemeckis directed it. I have to admit the movie is better than I expected, but it's still a bit too lightweight, a bit too forgettable. If you have the time, this movie is worth seeing, but it's not one I would encourage anyone to chase down. It's entertaining, but it'll be forgotten.

The whole "spies fall in love" thing has been done before, so a big part of this movie felt redundant. It felt like a path we've gone down before. Zemeckis executes this fairly well, though, so it wasn't as much of a liability as I was expecting. Yes, the movie still feels like a rehash of things we've seen too many times before, but in the moment, that doesn't detract from the more interesting aspects of the story. I was never riveted by the story, but I never reached total boredom, either. The movie did enough to keep me mostly engaged.

The cast is fairly good. Brad Pitt might not give a great performance, but he's experienced and he leverages that experience well here. He's good in the role. Marion Cotillard was significantly better, though- she brought vivacity and energy to the role and was really quite memorable. She works well with Pitt and was easily the highlight of the cast. Jared Harris was decent in a smaller supporting role. I liked seeing Lizzy Caplan here, but she really had very little to do.

This movie is interesting because it doesn't really do anything poorly, but it never really achieves anything approaching greatness. Zemeckis directs a perfectly fine, entertaining, interesting story about spies in World War II. The cast is fairly solid, the direction works, the costumes are impressive (garnering the film's only Academy Award nomination, for Best Costume Design). This is a good movie, which is much appreciated- there's so many bad movies that roll out of Hollywood every year. And yet, there's never any real spark- never a moment where this film feels unique or different. It's almost like everyone played it so safe- just tell an expected story in an effective manner and collect our paychecks. It's hard to criticize a good film for not being more ambitious, but we need less perfectly fine movies and more courageous, risk-taking ones. I admit I liked this movie, but there's so many better World War II movies out there, so many better "spies fall in love" movies that I'll never be able to remember this movie long-term. It's too generic, too color-inside-the-lines.

You can certainly do worse than Allied. The film might be a bit too long at 124 minutes, but it only rarely drags. Zemeckis is a talented director and leverages his experience to make this a worthwhile movie. I just wish the whole production didn't feel like it was lacking ambition. This is a good movie, but a forgettable one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Saving Private Ryan, The Good German, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, La Vie en Rose