Mr & Mrs Smith

UK Release Date. 10 June 2005
Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours
Director. Doug Liman
Cast. Adam Brody, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn.
Rating. 19%

Review.

Doug Liman directed The Bourne Identity. The Bourne Identity, one of the most accomplished espionage thrillers of the 21st century. How the hell did he end up holding the reins of the vapid Mr & Mrs Smith? A mindless, mediocre and instantly forgettable summer blockbuster from 2005.

There is no denying Brad Pitt (John Smith) and Angelina Jolie (Jane Smith) have inherent on-screen chemistry. Sexy, magnetic and tempestuous, both smoulder throughout Mr & Mrs Smith. But the necessary character arcs that ensure the husband and wife turn on each other in order to seek retribution is all too easy and largely implausible. In addition, there is something fundamentally wrong and intrinsically unpleasant about watching Brad Pitt repeatedly kick his wife in the stomach (even if the assault is obscured by an upturned sofa). 

A plot is conspicuous by its absence. Mr & Mrs Smith relies solely on momentum, formulaic set-piece action and the lead actors' charisma to hold the audience's attention. The more you think about about the storyline [and I wouldn't spend too long on this exercise], the less it makes sense. As the husband and wife team dispatch wave after wave of faceless, nameless assassins, I began to wonder how could this really be a conclusion when neither employer is held to account. Wouldn't more faceless, nameless assassins simply be deployed?

Twenty years earlier Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis starred in True Lies, a much sharper take on the premise, and one that more successfully balanced the dark comedy with the need for pyrotechnic action.