Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director :
Doug Liman
Cast :
Brad Pitt……….John Smith
Angelina Jolie……….Jane Smith
Vince Vaughn……….Eddie
Kerry Washington……….Jasmine
The Movie
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is not really about action, romantic drama, or any implications that combine the two. It’s about the two main stars: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
While the film grew a huge buzz beforehand due to Pitt and Jolie’s romantic liaison, it’s just a retread of action sequences from inconsequential movies like Lethal Weapon 4 inserted into a great romantic drama about a couple trying to put the spark into their marriage.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith follows John (Pitt) and Jane (Jolie) Smith. They have reached the point in their married life that many couples face: it has come down to habit and routine instead of passion and excitement. The biggest change in their routine is when Jane adds in peas to dinner one night. Unlike every other couple, they’re super assassins. So it makes it more interesting as they hide their real lives from their fake lives.
Both are hired for the same hit, as Benjamin (Adam Brody) is the target. And from there, its great drama marred with crappy action as one of the summer’s biggest action movie unfolds.
The thing that stands about this movie is the chemistry between Jolie and Pitt. For all of publicity their private lives get in the public arena, on-screen Brad and Angelina have a chemistry that radiates off the screen. When the two are allowed to play off of each other, there is a solid story to be told about trying to mend a relationship on shaky ground. There are moments during the movie that the story really comes out; when allowed to tell a story by just interacting Jolie and Pitt do a wonderful job. The problem with all of this is that these moments are few and far between as unoriginal and boring action sequences coupled with generous amounts of bad dialogue disrupt the movie’s flow consistently.
If they were good action sequences it could only help but the action is unoriginal at best and boring at worst. There isn’t any semblance of originally in any of the action sequences and they are also gratuitous in nature. They look nice and are pretty interesting, but at the same time they aren’t anything that hasn’t been done before. Each sequence feels lifted from other films. As the half the film, it fails miserably. However, the drama is so good it almost makes up for it.
The drama in the movie is top notch, though. Pitt and Jolie have chemistry that radiates off the screen, but it’s marred by the movie’s bad writing. While they’re both good enough actors to make it a non-issue, it is a bit awkward at points with some of the dialogue they use.
It all adds up into an average movie, at best.
Score : 5 / 10
The Video
Presented in a 2.35:1 Widescreen aspect ratio, the film looks great. This is a great transfer, as the film looks just like it did in the theaters. With vivid colors and great separation, Mr. & Mrs. Smith looks great.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format, the film also sounds great. For a film that thrives on both dialogue and big-ticket action, it manages to capture the massive action and the subtleties of the dialogue quite well.
The Extras
Deleted scenes are nothing new or major to the story. While the infamous sex scene between the two that stirred up the original rumors is missing, there are three deleted scenes which don’t add much to the film.
Making a scene featurette follows the cast and crew as they discuss how they were able to craft one of the action sequences. While initially targeted for being cut for financial reasons, Liman explains how he was able to make it work for the studio without it being cut from the film. It was just modified from its original and Liman talks about he was able to adapt it for the studio without taking away its intent. Running around eight minutes, it’s a brief look at how they pulled it all together and is interesting on a certain level.
Trailers for the theatrical, teaser and soundtrack as well as a trailer for the Family Guy movie are included.
Commentary by Director Doug Liman and Screenwriter Simon Kinberg
Commentary by Producers Akiva Goldsman and Lucas Foster
Commentary by Editor Michael Tronick, Production Designers Jeff Mann and Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Elam
Score : 5 / 10
