Allied (film)



Allied is a 2016 World War II romantic thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Steven Knight. It follows two assassins who fall in love during a mission to kill a German official and stars Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan and Simon McBurney.

Principal photography began in February 2016 in London. The film was released in the United States on November 23, 2016 by Paramount Pictures.

Plot
In 1942 Morocco, Canadian intelligence agent Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) meets French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) while on a secret mission behind enemy lines. Max's mission is to eliminate a Nazi official at a dinner party in Casablanca and Marianne agrees to assist him in mission.

Thanks to Marianne's help, the mission is a success and Max soon prepares to leave for Canada but not before he tells Marianne to visit him in England where they can be married. After getting married in London, Marianne becomes pregnant and the unborn child is able to survive the Blitz bombings: the beginning of World War II. Soon after he and Marianne become a proper family, Max is called to the Special Operations Executive HQ where they give him information that Marianne may be a "double agent". Max denies this but MI5 soon give him 17 hours to eliminate or be arrested for treason, tried, and be hanged.

Max, refusing to give up the love of his life, sets out on a quest to prove Marianne's innocence while Marianne herself becomes suspicious on his behavior. Max visits and interrogates various people in order to know if Marianne really is a spy. After a stressful night, Max contacts schizophrenia and hallucinates himself killing Marianne in various ways and giving his own child up for adoption along with MI5 congratulating him with his decision. Knowing that there is nothing he can do, Max tells Marianne to leave with their child, he also tells her that MI5 is forcing him to take her out.

Marianne is enraged and vows to kill those who wronged her but Max tells her it doesn't matter as they can pretend to divorce and go their separate ways. Marianne soon leaves England and Max returns back to Canada but soon finds out that MI5 contacted his headquarters to remind them of his cowardice. Max is arrested once he returns home and is branded a traitor for assisting another. In jail, Max meets with his sister Bridget along with Special Operations Executive agent Frank Heslop who try to pressure him into giving them the whereabouts of Marianne. Max refuses and Bridget scolds him for marrying Marianne in the first place. Bridget and Frank then leave Max alone in his cell in order to let him think about the consequences of his actions.

Cast

 * Brad Pitt as Max Vatan
 * Marion Cotillard as Marianne Beausejour
 * Jared Harris as Frank Heslop
 * Matthew Goode as Guy Sangster
 * Lizzy Caplan as Bridget Vatan
 * Anton Lesser as Emmanuel Lombard
 * August Diehl as Hobar
 * Camille Cottin as Monique
 * Charlotte Hope as Louise
 * Marion Bailey as Mrs. Sinclair
 * Simon McBurney as S.O.E. Official
 * Daniel Betts as George Kavanagh
 * Thierry Frémont as Paul Delamare

Pre-production
On February 6, 2015, Paramount Pictures and New Regency announced that Robert Zemeckis was set to direct an untitled World War II-set romantic thriller film, in which Brad Pitt was set to star. Steven Knight wrote the original script, which was in development by Graham King's GK Films, which now would be produced by ImageMovers' Zemeckis and Steve Starkey along with King. On June 8, 2015, Marion Cotillard was cast in the film to play a spy assassin along with Pitt who fall in love with each other during a mission to kill a German official. In August 2015, writer Knight stated that the film would be based on a true story personally told to him at the age of 21, and he also said that the shooting would start in January 2016. On January 28, 2016, Jared Harris joined the film. On March 8, 2016, Lizzy Caplan was cast in the film to play Pitt's character's sister. Executive producers on the film would be Knight, Jack Rapke, Patrick McCormick and Denis O'Sullivan. Alan Silvestri composed the music for the film.

Filming
Principal photography on the film began in February 2016 in London. In May 2016 scenes set in Casablanca were shot in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

Release
Paramount Pictures scheduled the film to be released on Wednesday, November 23, 2016.

Box office
Allied opened alongside Moana, Rules Don't Apply and Bad Santa 2 and is expected to gross around $15 million in its opening weekend and $20-25 million over its first five days from 3,160 theaters.

Critical response
Allied received generally positive, but mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64%, based on 100 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Allied has its moments, but doesn't quite achieve epic wartime romance status - a disappointment made more profound by the dazzling talent assembled on either side of the camera." Metacritic reports a normallized score 60 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.