HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY WHOM YOU KNOW, ALLIED Released by Paramount Pictures Makes Its American Debut November 23, 2016 Directed by Robert Zemeckis Featuring Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode and Mover and Shaker Chris Reilly Our Coverage Sponsored by Hallak Cleaners the Couture Cleaner
"The screenplay had a sweeping, epic, romantic feel. The thing I love most to do as a director is to move audiences - and when you have a story as powerful as this one, and with so many emotional twists and turns, you have immense opportunities to do that. This type of story is perfect for a filmmaker like myself because I like to make audiences really feel and use all the tools at my disposal to do that."
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And Zemeckis has quite the toolbox, evidenced by his luminous success from Back to the Future to Forrest Gump, among other hits. Visually stunning throughout and extremely well-written with tight edits, the Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque Allied boasting flawless acting is one of the best movies we've seen this year. And Max Vatan (Pitt) and Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) do a lot more damage than bank robbery! The chemistry between Pitt and Cotaillard is undeniably excellent and we believe this is what will take the box office this coming weekend, and for weekends to come. "If you're making a love story, you just pray your two leads will have that incredible chemistry that you can feel coming off the screen," says Zemeckis. "That is what happened on this film; Brad and Marion had that movie star spark. They each gave so much emotionally and it was magnified by the chemistry every time they're in the frame together." We concur; they are highly believeable.
The surrepticious nature of the plot and all that surrounds it will draw you in immediately and this riveting movie completely flys by - literally and figuratively. "Allied is a story about double lives, one that is incredibly compelling on a human level. What's so exciting is that in every scene in this story, the two main characters of Max and Marianne are operating on two different levels - what you see and what you don't - and their every action resonates with unspoken secrets. That makes for a powerful and unique subtext to both the thriller elements and the love story, because there is a boiling cauldron of suspiction coming to a head beneath them just as the war is building to its climax," states executive producer Patrick McCormick.
We were highly impressed with Marion in Rust and Bone, reviewed here and she absolutely lit up this screen in every opportunity; if you are American and don't know her well you will now because she is a box-office sensation. It's so smart to cast the protagonist- Max Vatan- as a Canadian and note that is where Medicine Hat is (you would probably like the Calgary Flames if you were from there?); we love love love Canada and Peachy feels she is almost Canadian from hockey. We'll have to see what Mover and Shaker Andre Lacroix thinks of Max's Quebecois accent! The character Marianne had to brush it up a bit to become Parisian...you shall see why!
"I love the fact that it felt like a very entertaining thriller and at the same time it felt like a very deep and profound love story," Marion Cotaillard muses. "Then when I heard Bob Zemeckis was on board and Brad Pitt would be playing Max, it was even more exciting to me. Bob is such a visionary director. He's done so many special movies only he could have created, so I felt it would be really cool to be part of a project that is a new genre for him...I think Allied is equally a story of suspense and one of tragic romance. Bob starts with a classic recipe for creating entertaining movies, then takes it in his own contemporary and insightful direction."
Set in Europe in WWII from Casablanca to London, Allied captures all of what anyone that was not here in the 1940's believed it to be; it definitely reminded us of our grandparents and great-aunts and great-uncles, many of whom were WWII veterans (and none were spies that we know of!)
"For people not raised on the 1940s style of movies, they've likely never seen this king of picture, one that offers a big, visual spectacle and excitement but also profound human emotions," says producer Steve Starkey. "The film was made in the most modern, technological way which makes for intense action. But Brad and Marion also embody the kind of grand movie romance we haven't seen in a long time."
The gripping evolution of what is going on on each side of the war in the realm of esppoinage is wildly played out by Cotillard and Pitt. As the story evolves, you'll be questionning the validity of each move and each line and who is being honest and who is not.
The cinematography for the duration Allied is simply sublime from the intelligent use of light and shadows to the quintessential old hollywood successfully evoked throughout. It is exactly the kind of movie that a high-quality audience covets and desires in a world where questionable scripts are produced. When there is not a great story and the foundation of compelling writing, there will never be a top box office sensation. This script and its execution were absolutely magnificent.
The acting was fabulous from the marquis names you know to the names you should know if you are an avid reader, like Mover and Shaker Chris Reilly who makes an appearance towards the conclusion in uniform, which those that are Pilot Peachy enthusiasts will especially appreciate. Chris Reilly tells Whom You Know: "I was asked by Robert Stern to read in for the job; he's used me before and I think he was just after a safe pair of hands to work alongside the two stars (Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt). I'm a fan of both; I did some work on Macbeth which she's amazing in - (I'm now working with the Director's wife cast by Robert once again thanks to Robert and Nina Gold's office) and love a whole load of things Brad Pitt has done over what is unarguably an fantastic career. Robert Zemekis was a joy to work for; he spent a lot of time on what, in the end, with cuts etc. turned out to be a two-line part, but the experience of working on such a tentpole film with three people I've admired and aspired to [emulate] is one I won't forget." You can expect to see more great things from Chris Reilly!
Downton Abbey enthusiasts...you'll hardly recognize Lady Mary's husband here as Matthew Goode's character suffers the ravages of war and the fact that you can hardly recognize him is testament to his on-screen abilities. The London scenes were in Hampstead Heath and the famed SOE offices on Baker Street where 10,000 people secretly worked on covert sabotage and espionage campaigns were recreated expertly. These reminded us of the Bletchley Park series and The Imitation Game.
Though people are the most important, we like the props too. Time ticking by and the fabulous use of clocks in Allied impressed us, and we think it will impress Grace too, our clock specialist who is in movies herself (Woody Allen picked her and her shop for his new film-stay tuned for more on Amazing Grace.)
Of course, we also applaud the use of Chandliers and feel their model names and designers should have been part of the credits! There were many great ones we saw in Allied, including the chandelier in the Rivoli nightclub, where Max and Marianne first meet. Production designer Gary Freeman commissioned the creation of an enormous 14-foot high Venetian chandelier, weighing 1500 pounds. "The chandelier is deco-inspired but it also has the feeling of a 1940s spaceship; I've never really seen anything like it before." Gary what happened to that chandelier?
We were highly impressed with the score by composer Alan Silvestri; we perhaps have the most discriminating taste in sound among all disciplines and pay few compliments in this realm. And, after writing that in our notes during the movie in the dark we read in the production notes that he also has a vineyard so this may not be the only discipline he scores on with us. "There's something about the elemental side of winemaking that appeals to me," says Alan. "Both music making and wine making involve the blending of art and science. Just as each note brings its own voice to the melody, each vine brings its own unique personality to the wine."
And, we've never seen a duststorm look so great!
You haven't either until you've seen this one.
Marianne might say that the mistake that people make in these situations is feeling, however, Allied elicits a wide spectrum of these to its audience in rapture.
"Let's forget the war. Let's make this the best day ever," Marianne says.
Make your next a best day ever starting November 23rd and go see Allied. We think even Jenny would say, "Run, Forrest, Run and Go See This!"
Allied is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know!
ALLIED
Paramount Pictures Presents
A GK Films Production
“Allied”
Written by Steven Knight
Produced by Graham King Robert Zemeckis Steve Starkey
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode
“ALLIED” is the story of intelligence officer Max Vatan (Pitt), who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beauséjour (Cotillard) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war.
“Allied” has been rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use.
“Allied” is a Paramount Pictures release
