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'Allied' is lackluster and without suspense

( R ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Allied' stars Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, two secret operatives working during World War II who become romantically involved.

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Daniel Smith/Paramount Pictures/AP
'Allied' stars Marion Cotillard (l.) and Brad Pitt (r.).
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

I would have thought that Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard would be capable of generating a lot more heat than the tiny sputtering flame occasionally visible in “Allied,” a lackluster World War II espionage drama directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Steven Knight without producing the slightest tingle of suspense. 

Pitt plays Max Vatan, a secret operative from Canada who works in the British special operations, where he is teamed in Morocco – Casablanca, no less! – with Marianne Beauséjour (Cotillard), an operative assigned to pose as his wife.

Inevitably, as the scene shifts to London, these two develop real feelings for each other – the fake lovebirds become real ones, complete with marriage and a baby daughter. But the war is still raging and Allied secrets are inexplicably being leaked to the Germans. Is Marianne the culprit? It’s a measure of the film’s dullness that the answer to that question is far from pressing. Grade: C (Rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use.)

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