Allied is a period piece – set in 1940’s Europe. It’s the story of a Canadian intelligence officer who ends up partnered with a French resistance officer to carry out his latest mission. Their business partnership ends up turning into a life partnership, they get married and embark upon a life together as husband and wife. Then trust becomes the issue..

Story: This is a wartime story, set during World War II in Europe and Northern Africa. It’s always interesting to see how writers tell period pieces – the accuracy, the detail. Steven Knight is the writer and he gets great credit for detail. I’m not sure the whole of this story is so compelling, but, the detail with which it’s told is astounding.

Performances: Brad Pitt as Max Vatan delivers an admirable performance. Marion Cotillard as Marianne Beausejour does the same. But, I’ve seen both of them in other films where I felt they offered more range and depth to the character. These were interesting characters given a respectable treatment, but, they’re not getting an Oscar…

Visual: Good job creating 1942 Casablanca and 1943 English countryside. The wardrobe reflected the time and the elements of the war that were relevant were represented.

Rating: Believe it or not, I’m giving Allied a C+. It just didn’t stir anything in me. While the ending was fairly dramatic, the road getting to the final answer seemed like something I’d seen before. The talk of Oscar for this film is/was premature. There are many other choices for Oscar to make more of a statement. See allied if you like Brad Pitt or Marion Cotillard.