Allied

Allied resembles a stylishly wrapped box adorned with flashy trimmings, that when opened, reveals something ordinary and by the numbers. After all, superstar Brad Pitt, director Robert Zemeckis, and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, in a Mr and Mrs Smith type WW2 spy thriller set against backdrops like Casablanca is pretty impressive packaging. And it's not like the film isn't consistently watchable because it is. Yet there is this overall feeling of just going through the motions that permeates this film for its entirety. Oh we need a gunfight here or a crashing plane there, a sex scene in a sandstorm here, or a strangulation there. You get just enough to wet your appetite but no real meal to sate you. Moderately entertaining but unremarkable, which considering the talent, the budget, and the subject matter, is not good enough.