Allied

Part of this story is set in Casablanca...but its mind is on Casablanca all the way through. Indeed, this movie doesn’t just take a number of its cues from that most famous of films, but it is very much a not-so-funhouse mirror image of that cinematic legend. Hell, there are even moments sprinkled throughout where the now-aging Brad Pitt even looks a bit like Humphrey Bogart. (Co-star Marion Cotillard, though talented and impressive in performance, doesn’t quite measure up to or resemble Ingrid Bergman.) This being the world of today, things don’t work out quite as well for these characters as with the habitués of Rick’s. Nevertheless, the full package ends up as a decently-crafted thriller, one that has enough twists and turns to keep the plot interesting without wrapping itself up into a Moebus strip of too-clever confusion (a failing of all too many mystery-spy-intrigue flicks). Mission: mostly successful.