Allied plays it safe. Too safe. The film is anachronistic, not because it is a period drama but simple because it deploys older storytelling methods. The days of linear, predictable storytelling for a thriller are over no matter how well adorned you make the tropes.

Marion Cotillard is pretty good but Brad Pitt seems a bit distant. Robert Zemeckis seems a bit out of touch. He hasn't done anything interesting, or really much at all, since Castaway (which I had enjoyed.)

Unfortunately, in 2016, you could do much worse at the theaters.