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Romance and duplicity intertwine in "Allied," a spy drama whose visual charms don't quite compensate for a thin storyline.
In French Morocco, in 1942, Canadian airman Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is on assignment to assassinate a German ambassador. His contact is Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard), a French Resistance operative who is supposed to masquerade as his wife.
When their mission is completed, they become man and wife for real, and Max is stationed at a base in London. He's contacted by a British counterintelligence boss (Simon McBurney) with horrifying news: Marianne is suspected of being a German spy, and Max must help ferret out the truth or be hanged as an accomplice.
Director Robert Zemeckis ("Flight," "The Walk") wraps the film in old-Hollywood glamour, from Pitt's sharp uniforms to Cotillard's show-stopping gowns, and some stunning visual effects. Alas, the script by Steven Knight ("Locke," "Pawn Sacrifice") doesn't generate much tension, and Pitt and Cotillard don't have much chemistry. When a World War II romance/spy thriller name-drops "Casablanca" and Graham Greene, it had better deliver, and "Allied" falls short.
'Allied'
Opening Wednesday, Nov. 23, at theaters everywhere; rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use; 124 minutes.