Something for both sides of your brain

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2005)

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" delivers two kinds of summer fare - the chic flick, and the action blockbuster - in one tasty package. The film opens with our stylishly-dressed couple at the marriage counselor. He says she's lost her spontaneity. She says he's too unreliable. When the counselor asks if they're honest with each other, she says, "Yes. Mostly."
Discovering exactly how honest, and how dishonest, they've been with each other is the driving question of the movie. But the answers to those questions come in the midst of flying bullets, pyrotechnics, chase scenes, close calls, and plenty of revealing shots for each actor.
Along the way, there is an intriguing subtext of the modern day roles of men and women in marriage, where passion comes from, and how succumbing to the first may spell the death of the second.
If you don't have an appreciation for both genres, you may find that either there's too much talking or alternately, there's too much violence. But if you enjoy both... or are thinking about a date with someone who strongly enjoys the other type of film... it's fun summer romp.