What I find attractive about Allied, the latest film from Robert Zemeckis, is that it is so relaxed. In which he must have seen those old style Hollywood romantic wartime films that made him to love film making, Zemekis used to say. While his focus on pushing the visual aspect of his work to the absolute brink only led to some pretty shallow ventures like Beowulf or The Walk , Allied yet again stands out as another visually striking and technically perfect offering from this veteran filmmaker even though the rest of the film falls short in comparison.
Allied begins with a breathtaking scene featuring Max Vatan (Pitt), a Canadian air force wing commander falling into the Moroccan desert through parachute. Thereafter we see Max rendezvous with Marianne Beauséjour (Cotillard) whom he has been assigned to partner with on secret mission aimed at killing a German Nazi ambassador residing in Casablanca.
The town is not just a romantic setting in the first act of the film; clearly, the 1941 classic movie with the same title seems to be the biggest influence on Allied. Marianne and Max fall in love, relocate to a bungalow in Hampstead, England and have one kid together. It would seem that Allied is trying very hard to imitate Bogart and Bergman’s romance which started as soon as Max and Marianne met at Casablanca, but it does not even remotely come close to recreating the romance of this iconic love story.
Nevertheless, that is only Act One of Allied because its opening scene tries really hard to thoroughly cover most spy love stories ever heard within one song. Still, there are instances where you feel like some vital building blocks were skipped in Marianne and Max’s relationship: they had sex together for a week while on duty. So here’s what we know: two people who are deeply attractive putting their lives on line with each other. The film may want you to believe so but it still feels underdeveloped though.
Therefore, what is the next thing that happens? So much so that Max and Marianne’s idyllic existence in Hampstead is wrecked by anything. I’m not sure though, even if some of the most recent trailers suggest this. The twist, which Knight’s script builds up to beautifully, allows the film to abandon its more straightforward romantic themes in order to explore more morally complex issues. This is where Allied embraces many of its Hitchcockian influences fully as it fills the latter half with additional layers of suspense, mystery and sexuality.
Sometimes it feels like a direct tribute to one of Alfred Hitchcock’s under-appreciated films such as Suspicion (1941), which showed how a woman suspected her husband was plotting on killing her and ultimately destroyed their marriage. Hitchcock took advantage of Cary Grant’s then seemingly perfect movie star persona and set up this extremely personal whodunit as though it were a spy movie, giving you only enough information for you to beat Joan Fontaine’s character at solving the mystery but never quite fulfilling your knowledge about who did it until the last couple minutes. It is one of his quieter masterpieces because of Hitchcock’s unparalleled technical dexterity and his actors’ performances.
These goals, in some way or another, lead to Allied’s growth and improvement over time; however, it is not as uncertain or breath-catching as the Hitchcock film due to Brad Pitt’s stiff performance. Max is a very quiet man with few words almost making him physically crippled, but Pitt’s unadorned version only sounds hollow rather than filling in that void with suppressed emotions like many others. In reality, this movie’s last thirty minutes are better than most of the others including his until now yet first two acts might have proved more effective if they featured simmering performances from both leads that could make their love affair organic rather than formulaic; instead Pitt just lets down Allied.
However, the same cannot be said of Marion Cotillard; there is nothing in her portrayal of Marianne that another actress could not have done. There’s something about her character that suggests she has a dark background with distinct tragedies and regret; thus, it makes her try to live happily today with her husband and child while showing a sympathetic neediness. Similarly, as Grant does in Suspicion, she uses physical attractiveness to manipulate others which causes ambivalence towards rooting for her because you can never decide how far you can trust Marianne.
Owing to his technical film making talent, Zemeckis and Steven Knight’s script which morphs with innovations over time ensures that Allied is a love story that is entertaining and occasionally touching. Knight makes the difference between it and many other blockbusters by inserting these slight detours into his script like when Max Valant played by Pitt asks an air force pilot newbie who he is thinking about before flying off on his first mission. “My mother,” says the young boy. Max says “Don’t think of him; think of him.” These are the kinds of moments that might have been skipped over in most other blockbusters or movies alike but they are what make Allied feel more alive which means a great deal given how completely determined its structure and plot are.
The Verdict
Allied, a new interesting mystery from director Robert Zemeckis feels even more complete than his 2015 film The Walk did, although it does not reach the emotional heights reached by Flight in 2012. However, due to the expertise demonstrated behind the camera as well as Marion Cotillard’s committed lead performance, if you opt to see this movie during this year’s packed Thanksgiving weekend at the theater, it will be worth your time.
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