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Film review

A happy union of action, sex appeal

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie light up the screen in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, giving moviegoers what they want in a summer blockbuster.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published June 9, 2005

[Twentieth Century Fox]

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have each others’ backs as they take on a gang of assassins in a home furnishings superstore.

	Coming to a darkened room near you Some things old, a handful new, some borrowed plots and a bit of boo: Summer films again marry the proven and the preposterous to lure fans to the movie theater. (5/19/05)

Even Jennifer Aniston would have to admit there's electrifying chemistry between her estranged husband, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie in the action comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith. These stars practically melt the camera by looking at each other. When they embrace, it's tempting to locate the nearest fire exit.

If Jen and Brad do wind up in divorce court (she filed papers in March), and Jolie's tabloid-hyped temptations are part of the case, Mr. and Mrs. Smith could be exhibit A.

The movie itself rates a letter grade less. Pitt and Jolie's sex appeal can't totally disguise the fact that Doug Liman's movie spins its wheels after the third or fourth reel. But it does so with great style, particularly when gunfire and explosions drown out the actors' neo-Tracy and Hepburn banter. I'd see the movie again, just for its tango scene and a climactic shootout staged like a lethal ballet. Nothing about Liman's film is bad, but it needs a few more really good parts.

The best dialogue is front-loaded by screenwriter Simon Kinberg, starting with John Smith (Pitt) and his wife, Jane (Jolie), talking to an offscreen marriage counselor. They're hesitant to admit how unhappy they are, covering up with empty optimism and barely concealed contempt. It's a stretch to believe that after years of marriage each one doesn't know the other is a hired assassin, but we do from the previews, so their small talk takes on amusingly dual meanings.

The mutual deception ends when John's and Jane's latest assignments collide, putting her in the position of having to kill her husband. There's a later twist that alters their perceptions of each other, after Liman and Kinberg milk the Prizzi's Honor angle dry. No matter what the Smiths are doing, or who they're doing it to, Pitt and Jolie are so casually magnetic that audiences won't be bothered by details.

This is essentially a two-person show, with the notable exception of Vince Vaughn's role as Eddie, a mama's boy who runs the assassination company where John is employed. Vaughn's seemingly improvised dialogue adds a touch of wackiness to situations Liman occasionally takes too seriously.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith also contains some of the best escapes and gadgets this side of a James Bond movie, with Jolie pulling off more daring acts of bravery than she managed in two Tomb Raider flicks. Yet, each of those fantastic situations makes Jane's secrecy about her occupation less believable. By expanding his characters' action skills, Liman mildly contradicts the core of his comedy.

At other times, the laughs contrast with John and Jane's established intelligence, such as a neighborhood dinner party when she's wearing fishnet stockings - used to seduce a target - underneath a suburban housewife dress. Any assassin that cunning would notice the fashion faux pas before leaving home.

But logic isn't what audiences are looking for in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They want to see the two most celebrated sex symbols of the day striking sparks, and they want to see things blown up while having a few laughs. For better or worse, for richer or, well, richer, Liman's movie certainly provides that.

Grade: B

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington

Screenplay: Simon Kinberg

Rating: PG-13; violence, sexual situations, profanity

Running time: 112 min.

[Last modified June 8, 2005, 10:18:05]