Mindless entertainment packed with It.

Rating: 5/10 (1 November 2005)

Sometimes you're just in the mood for an escapist movie. Nothing too intelligent; nothing too twisting or unpredictable; just good-looking people living their ridiculously interesting lives. For women, this form of entertainment usually comes in the form of anything starring Julia Roberts or Hilary Duff, for the younger crowd. Guys usually go for almost anything featuring Tom Cruise. Although those names are absent, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" combines a bit of both types, fitting the mindless entertainment mold perfectly.
If you saw a trailer for "Smith", then you know the gist of the picture. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are married. But the implausibilities don't stop there. Unbeknownst to each other, both are guns-for-hire who assassinate VIPs for unseen higher powers. Eventually of course, the cover-ups must stop, and that's what the movie is about. A simple enough premise that follows a simple enough path, which is fine, because watching Smith is like attending a Kansas City Royals baseball game. You know what you're getting when you buy the ticket. You know you'll have a good time at the game, and you won't be shocked if the product is mediocre to bad, which is precisely where this film ends up.
Even though, or perhaps because the entire story is inevitable, the plot still dragged at times, simply taking too long to set the scenes and then deliver the promised goods of shootouts, both martial and marital. Once there, the action scenes are good not great, and the miscommunicative banter between Pitt and Jolie as they rediscover each other provides the funny moments, which are the highlight of the film. Married or not, anyone can relate to their problems, which are magnified by the absurdity of their situation. Quality relational humor is as funny as anything, and there are some good jabs sprinkled throughout this movie, although still nothing particularly memorable.
Also forgettable is the entire cast outside of Pitt and Jolie. The villains are scarcely given a face; Vince Vaughn is occasionally amusing in an over-the-top way; Adam Brody ("The O.C.") is pointless; and frankly no one else matters. Seriously, if all faces except the leads had been no names or even blurred out, the movie would not have suffered, because good versus evil is hardly the point of the flick. The point is see beautiful people fight with words and guns.
Therefore the onus of the movie falls on the magnetism of Pitt and Jolie, which is fortunately palpable. Both are clearly sexy, beautiful people, and their chemistry is undeniable. The sensuality erupts off the screen more than even the explosions because they both possess It, that mysteriously inexplicable combination of looks, swagger, demeanor, sexuality, and accessibility. Whatever It is, they both own It, and thus glue eyes to the screen regardless of what they're doing, whether it be carrying a bazooka or a fork. Doesn't matter. You want to watch. From beginning to end, their allure and physical presences carry the movie. Without it, the product is something like "Ballistic: Ecks versus Sever", which had more to work with, but whose leads (Banderas and Liu) lacked the charisma of Pitt and Jolie, resulting in a more interesting story that was less watchable.
Looking for something profound in this movie is like hoping Britney Spears brings down the house with a Verdi aria. It's just not going to happen. If you anticipate such, then you deserve to be disappointed. But like "2 Fast 2 Furious", "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" can fill two hours with mild entertainment if you have reasonable expectations.
Bottom Line: A decent popcorn movie. Nothing more. 5 of 10.