3 stars out of 5
Here’s another one I saw a ton of commercials for. It’s 1942 and hey military guy Brad Pitt, your Frenchy wife Marion Cotillard might be a German spy. So this means: A) She is a spy. B) She’s not a spy. C) In a crazy twist, HE’S the spy.
Well, I won’t spoil it for you, as it’s an entertaining enough flick to watch at home or perhaps on a plane. Director Robert Zemeckis does a decent job making us feel that we’re in wartime Casablanca (where military operatives Pitt and Cotillard pretend to be husband and wife) and London (where they actually become husband and wife). Life is now good for our heroes. Well, except for this pesky matter of, maybe she’s a spy.
This is the first time I’ve seen Brad Pitt in a movie where I’ve thought, “He’s not as handsome as he used to be.” It’s like his face is getting flatter and that is not flattering. And his character is kind of taciturn, so things are a little bit slow in the early going. Ah, but it definitely picks up in a — dare I say it? — hot scene when the couple first hooks up during a sandstorm. Marion Cotillard is as handsome as she used to be.
Pitt’s commanding officer is Lane from Mad Men. Good to see him getting work. Lizzy Caplan doesn’t get much to do as Pitt’s lesbian sister.
There are uniforms and guns and WWII aircraft and is she a spy and things get pretty tense and the movie for the most part is very watchable. Unfortunately, things take a real turn for the stupid late in the game. Pitt’s field trip to France looks like an outtake from Hogan’s Heroes. And then the big reveal is based on something so monumentally idiotic, any true film fans will sadly shake their heads. Maybe a German spy could’ve snagged an early copy of the script and made a few edits.
Jack Silbert, curator