Allied

Genre: Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller, War

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jarred Harris, Lizzy Caplan, et cetera

Being screened at QFX Cinemas

Kathmandu

A tale of spies in love, set during World War II, Allied is deceptive packaging. It seems glamorous from the out with two famed actors — Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard — on board, but in reality it is a flat and boring flick with nothing powerful to thrill you.

It’s the year 1942. Canadian Intelligence Officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) has been given a mission to complete in Casablanca — assassination of German Ambassador. French Resistance Fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) is his partner for the mission. When he travels to Casablanca to accomplish the mission, Max meets Marianne for the first time — and the duo pretend to be husband and wife, and fool everyone with their perfect acting. As they pretend and continue working together to accomplish their mission, the duo fall in love and get married. They are yet to anticipate the unexpected as their relationship is not unaffected by the war.

Allied is victorious in the first half — the plot development and its pace, romance, thrill and chemistry of its protagonists are all kept intact. But the screenplay fails in the second half. The film also starts getting slow and monotonous, lively romance seems too weak to impress, and even the ending is not satisfying.

And names like Pitt and Cotillard can't save the film. When the duo are working together as spies, their chemistry actually sizzles. But once their mission is over, the plotline loses its intrigue and so do their less interesting performances. Pitt gives a flat performance most of the time and Cotillard is no better — her emotions are unfathomable and unrelatable. Sometimes she is overtly livelier than Pitt in some instances, spoiling the connection and chemistry.

Most of the screen space is dominated by these two protagonists, but the supporting actors are good in whatever space they get in the film.

On a positive note, Allied is able to bring the impression of 1942 via its setting — it beautifully captures everything from beautiful sand dunes and dangerous sandstorm to London suburbs.

Poor screenplay with unimpressive lead actors weakens the power of Allied.