MR. & MRS. SMITH (2005)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a summer popcorn movie in its purest form. It's low on logic, but it's very big on fun. It's driven by topnotch direction from Doug Liman who helmed Go and the Bourne Identity. Liman is at his very best when it comes to big action movies and there are many moments for him to truly showcase his eye for the extreme. Unfortunately there are some very weak spots along the way that just don't work, but stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do their part to make sure the ride goes as smoothly as possible.
As previously alluded too, Mr. & Mrs. Smith does have many flaws. The biggest one is its overall plot. Two super duper secret agents marry each other and don't know for 5 or 6 years that the other is a super duper secret agent. Not only do they not figure this out, but the super duper secret agencies that they work for don't figure this out either. Now I can understand how, for many viewers, this would be a real head-scratcher in the logic department, but you have to understand that Mr. & Mrs. Smith is in a movie world of its own. Why have basic logic when you can have Brad and Angelina with big guns?. But not everything has to make sense and provided that the audience are taken far enough away from the dynamics of rhyme and reason, you can get away with offering nothing more than a good old fashioned piece of entertainment. And that's exactly what Mr. & Mrs. Smith is.

The first half of the movie is mainly story and set up. There are a couple of light action scenes, but what carries the film in the beginning is its humor. There are some good laughs scattered about to keep things going nicely. Brad Pitt is especially funny in the movie and I think his comedic talents have always been a little overlooked, so its good to see him shine here. The gorgeous Angelina Jolie plays it straight for the most part but she has a couple of funny lines as well. They have very good chemistry in the film (probably due to their well publicized relationship), but acting wise Pitt is, was, and throughout his career, always has been on another level. Vince Vaughn is brought in for comic relief and as usual he's very funny. Vaughn is a very good actor and, although I enjoy these supporting comedic roles he's been doing as of late, I would really like to see him do something bigger and more meaningful. He definitely has it in him and I believe one day Vince will get the big role he deserves.
The film goes into high gear once the couple finally realize each other's big secret. The scenes where they try to kill each other are particularly well done and highly entertaining. Although they are trying to kill one another, they are also still trying to work out their marriage problems. There are some very funny scenes and great action sequences that come out of this. The action gets bigger and better as the movie goes along. Pitt and Jolie are believable as professional killers and do look like they know what they're doing when it comes to the gunplay, knife throwing and general messy business of assassination. Liman shoots the action sequences very well. My only complaint is the lack of blood in the movie. A film like this needs to have more blood and gore to it. Dozens of people are getting shot, blown to pieces and stabbed, but the blood is minimal. This is still good stuff nonetheless.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a big budget, Hollywood blockbuster that's really funny and has been crafted very skillfully. Its like a combination of True Lies meets The War of the Roses. Sure there's a lot of nonsense and some weak melodramatic parts, but the filmmakers realize this and overcome it with big entertainment value. As long as moviegoers get that this is supposed to be nothing more than fun, they should have no problem enjoying Mr. & Mrs. Smith.