Directed by:
Robert ZemeckisScreenplay:
Steven KnightCinematography:
Don BurgessComposer:
Alan SilvestriCast:
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Simon McBurney, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Betts, Matthew Goode, Camille Cottin, August Diehl, Thierry Frémont (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
1942. After falling in love with a French agent during a dangerous North African mission, an Allied counter-intelligence agent is quietly notified that the woman he has married and had a baby with is likely a Nazi spy. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
A film with Zemeckis’s perfect craftsmanship, powerfully emotional, atmospheric, with wonderful performances by Pitt and Cotillard, the nonchalant score by Silvestri, and sensitively photographed by Burgess, right on the scale of a soberly edited retro trip. A precisely balanced blend of romantic drama and dark historical backdrop that creates an immensely immersive aura and gradually builds under the cauldron to a chilling, crushingly unyielding finale. A small great cinematic event that will sadly fade quickly into obscurity, but it’s nonetheless a wonderful and valuable revelation in contemporary Hollywood conventions. 90% ()
Neither great nor terrible. As usual, the enemies run straight into the fire of the heroes, who are then able to leave the scene without any consequences. Then the film morphed into some sort of a romantic drama with war used only as a backdrop to the story. The situation was saved by the ending. A happy one would have clearly been unfortunate in this case. ()
Allied is definitely a simplification of history, but in a nice retro-Hollywood guise that makes us turn a blind eye to that fact. It is surprisingly not tacky, dramatic bordering on chilling due to the atmosphere of the period in which the story takes place. It is also perfectly directed with cool professionalism and without the tear-jerking we might expect from Robert Zemeckis, and without any grand love motifs we might expect from Alan Silvestri. Because such a well-written script with such a powerful story doesn't need any of that. The ending totally got me. ()
Emotionally, it's a bit of a cold story that ironically, especially at first, moves quite slowly, but Zemeckis does repair his reputation after the botched The Walk, as Allied may not work as well as a romantic drama, but it certainly works as a WWII spy film. Brad Pitt, of course, as has been the case for the last 10 years, is appropriately wonderful, and Marion Cotillard is traditionally, by eye contact, properly inscrutable. It's not an exemplary hit, but it's filmmaking from a filmmaker who rarely gets it really wrong. It has all the classic filmmaking frameworks that meet at least the standard, plus an absolutely lavish form with at least three over-the-top sequences and a beautifully stylized Morocco set to Silvestri's music. ()
Brad Pitt is great, Marion Cotillard is excellent, and Robert Zemeckis knows how to film a scene that will be aesthetically intriguing at first glance. He chose an interesting story for his next film, but I just couldn't get into it, and this otherwise strong dramatic romance just didn't quite captivate me. ()
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