Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are two very popular and attractive actors. Both have appeared in several successful movies. They ended up working together to make Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The project received a lot of attention from the press, especially after Pitt separated from Jennifer Aniston. I wanted to see the movie when I first heard about it because I do like Brad Pitt and my interest has only grown since I’ve seen the previews.

John and Jane Smith have been married for five - or six - years. They met during extreme circumstances in Columbia and got engaged quickly after that. They both seemed to feel a bit bored with their marriage. They were successful in their jobs and had a very nice house. They both also had a rather large secret. They were assassins, working for competing agencies. Neither knew what the other did until they were both sent after the same mark at the same time. After that job, each was given a short time to identify and eliminate the other. John and Jane were shocked when they realized the truth about their spouse.

A lot happened throughout the movie, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith wasn’t complicated. There were no major surprises in the movie, but that didn’t make me enjoy it any less. The trailer and previews that have aired on television covered the fact that John and Jane were assassins and unaware of what the other really did. They also even showed bits of what happened once John and Jane figured out what was going on. Some people may not like that the trailer and previews gave away most of the major events. I usually don’t like that either, but it managed to work with this movie. The movie really didn’t have a big mystery, but there were some surprises. The movie wasn’t realistic, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. I thought that the movie was very entertaining and is worth seeing. The fact that John and Jane had secret lives reminded me of the movie True Lies. There was even a scene in this movie involving a sensual dance, sort of like something that happened in True Lies. I think both dances were tangos, but I may be wrong since I don’t know much about dancing.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith was one of the better action movies that I have seen in a while. It started off a bit slower when introducing the characters and setting up the situation, but it didn’t seem too slow to me. I wasn’t bored. John and Jane were both shown handling a job. Both were good at what they did. It was also shared how they kept their true profession from each other. They used all kinds of advanced technical gadgets. As the movie progressed, the pace and action picked up. There were several explosions, including a small bomb that went off in a mail box. There were shoot outs and several people were hit. As anyone who has seen the previews know, John and Jane end up in a fight in the house. That particular scene might be a bit disturbing for some viewers. Their fighting did remind me a bit of what happened in the movie The War of the Roses. There was a very impressive car chase involving, of all things, a mini van. The action scenes were very well done. That could be because it was directed by Doug Liman. He directed The Bourne Identity and served as a producer for The Bourne Supremacy, two very well down action movies. Mr. and Mrs. Smith was violent, though not the most violent movie I have seen. I do think it is too violent for young children to see.

The previews made it clear there would be a lot of action in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I didn’t expect the humor that was present throughout the movie. I don’t consider the movie a comedy, but it had some funny moments and lines that helped to lighten the mood. Eddie, a friend and co-worker of John’s, said several things that were funny. John and Jane had their share of lines that made me laugh as well. Early in the movie, they were telling someone how long they had been married, and Jane corrected him twice that they had been together six years instead of five. It was little things like that, or how Jane told John he would get use to the new curtains he said he hated, that made me laugh. The theater was mostly full, and everyone was laughing throughout the movie. Probably the funniest of the little things for me was when John started to sing along with an Air Supply song, saying he liked it and for the person with him to deal with it.

John and Jane had a lot of passion when they first met. They ended up in bed right after they met and were engaged six weeks later. After being married for several years, their relationship seemed to have lost the spark and there was distance between them. The fact that they were keeping their real jobs a secret had to contribute to that. There were some sexual references made during the movie and a few sex scenes. The sex scenes weren’t really graphic, but they did look steamy. John and Jane were shown in their underwear, but not naked. Jane did show off more skin than John did. He barely even had his shirt off. I had heard when the movie was still filming that Pitt and Jolie were doing a very explicit sex scene. After seeing the movie, I’m thinking that a decision was made to cut that scene so the movie would get a PG-13 rating and possibly a higher take at the box office than most R rated movies manage to do. Maybe that scene will end up on the DVD once it is released. I wouldn’t have minded if Brad had shown more skin throughout the movie. Many men probably feel the same about Angelina.

John and Jane were living double lives. They had to keep secrets from everyone except the people they worked with. Later in the movie, more about them was shared. They were both very good at their jobs. Each felt there was something missing in their marriage, though they said they were happy together. John seemed to be more spontaneous while Jane was very organized. I liked Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane. I have seen both of them in several other movies and do like them, especially Pitt. I loved the part he played in Ocean's 11 and Ocean's Twelve. Pitt was in good shape, though maybe not as good as he was for Troy or Fight Club. It was harder to tell since he didn’t undress much. Jolie was also in good shape, much like she was in the Tomb Raider movies. They are two very attractive people and they did look good together in the movie. I thought that they had a lot of chemistry together, which is probably why the press has been speculating so much about if they are involved or not.

Eddie showed up in a few scenes, mostly to provide some comic relief. He worked with John, though he wasn’t shown doing too much. He lived with his mother. Vince Vaughn was very good as Eddie. I think he was underused. I have also enjoyed Vaughn’s performances in Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Be Cool. Adam Brody played a character that would become more important. He was wearing a Fight Club shirt in a scene or two. Kerry Washington had a few scenes as Jasmine, one of Jane’s co-workers. Those characters were flat, but that didn’t bother me too much since the movie really focused on John and Jane. Keith David was Father, a character that was only heard over the phone.

CAST

Adam Brody - Benjamin Diaz
Keith David - Father
Angelina Jolie - Jane Smith
Brad Pitt - John Smith
Vince Vaughn - Eddie
Kerry Washington - Jasmine

Doug Liman - Director

I had been looking forward to seeing Mr. and Mrs. Smith for months. There were a few minor problems, but I really enjoyed the movie. It wasn’t trying to be serious or realistic, so people should keep that in mind when going to see it. It was meant to be an entertaining summer movie and I think it worked. It is a fun action movie starting two very attractive people. Fans of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie should check it out.

Related Reviews
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life ~ Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ~ Shark Tale ~ The Mexican ~ Ocean's 11 ~ Ocean's Twelve ~ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ~ Starsky & Hutch ~ Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story ~ Be Cool ~


Recommended: Yes