by Ran
Brad Pitt's gonna be 53 this year and he's still got it. He's 3-for-3. Allied isn't just his third war movie, it's his third damned good war movie (after Legends of the Fall and Fury).
What separates Allied from the pack is the fact that it's a throwback. And not just because it takes place during World War II. The movie itself is like an old Hollywood film. I'm talking black-and-white Hollywood. It's at least partly an homage to Casablanca and Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious.
Just like Notorious, Allied is about two people, one of whom is an intelligence agent, who fall for each other during an undercover mission to infiltrate Nazis. And like that movie, the mission involves the lovebirds attending a Nazi party at a mansion. Wait -- it gets deeper. Trust is the central theme of Hitchcock's film and the same applies here. By the way, Notorious hit theaters exactly 70 years ago in 1946.
Just like in Casablanca, the hero of the story pressures someone close to him to play the piano. And check this out: A lot of what happens in Allied actually takes place in Casablanca, Morocco.
Before the movie was released it was surrounded by bad press due to the fact that Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad because he was rumored to have crept with his leading lady, Marion Cotillard. If he did, then history has repeated itself because that's how Angelina got him in the first place. Brad was married to Jennifer Aniston when Angelina snatched him up while they were making his first movie about a spy couple, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. But trust me, Allied is way better.
And by the way, like it or not, a movie star cheating on his or her spouse with their co-star is just one more piece of old-school Hollywood tradition.
One more thing: Both Casablanca and Notorious are headlined by an A-list American movie star (Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant) and an A-list European leading lady (Ingrid Bergman). Brad's as A-list as you get in the U.S. and Cotillard's one of France's biggest stars.
Ok, close your eyes. Think about one of those old-school black-and-white movies you saw on TCM. Now, pretend it's in color, is full of action and uses modern special effects. That's Allied.
Absolutely agree with your review! This is an excellent old school film noir type movie that works. The scenery, setting, the wardrobes the actors wear, even down to the smallest of things remind you of that time period. The movie is not overly fast paced so some might not like that to begin with but when it picks up it really engages you. Brad Pitt definitely still has it and he plays his character very well. But I have to say the star of the film is his co-star, Marion Cotillard. She is amazing in her role and reminds you of a modern Lauren Bacall in fhis film. The suspense and build up is tense in this movie and the ending...well, I cannot say anything without giving it away but it is well done. Great film!
ReplyDelete