The bonafides behind the upcoming awards-season bait “Allied” are pretty strong. It’s got Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in the lead roles, a script from Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises,” “Locke“) and Robert Zemeckis behind-the-camera, interesting even if his Oscar-aiming projects of late have been hit (“Flight,” earning Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Actor) and miss “The Walk” (zero Academy Awards nods). So it’ll be interesting to see where this lands but the promise is there.
READ MORE: First Look: Brad Pitt & Marion Cotillard In ‘Allied’
The story will follow intelligence officer Max Vatan, who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war. Essentially, it sounds like a great opportunity for Pitt and Cotillard to share some screen time together, and it sounds like they made the most of it.
“Brad and Marion immediately had the utmost respect for each other, so once they delved into their characters, their chemistry was electric,” Graham King, the film’s producer, told People, emphasizing how much prep the actors put in. “By the time we got to set, it was really amazing to see these characters already feel lived in and real.”
Co-starring Lizzy Caplan and Matthew Goode, “Allied” arrives on November 23rd.