A Tolerable Popcorn Film

Rating: 5/10 (9 June 2005)

The action/comedy "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" succeeds only when it focuses on its charismatic lead actors, who trade verbal barbs like punches. Whenever Mr. Smith (Brad Pitt) and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie) are on screen together, their chemistry makes up for a paper-thin plot. However, the film loses its course when fulfilling the action obligation of the genre. The action scenes are loud and filmed with a trembling hand by director Doug Liman (Go, The Bourne Identity). Further, the unnamed foe is altogether disinteresting: all the baddies are 'jobbers'; not one is a 'real' character in the film (heck, we don't even see their faces!).
Thankfully, the comedy half is much better. There are times when this film is genuinely funny (again only in the scenes with Mr. Pitt and Ms. Jolie) and times when it is not (usually those scenes with Vince Vaughn, who is cast as the clichéd best friend).
Overall "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is dumb fun. It's the kind of film you won't regret paying money to see, but not one that holds up well under scrutiny. Then again, this sort of film isn't supposed to be analysed.