My favorite film of 2005 (the first half, anyway)

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2005)

Doug Liman's short directing career is remarkable. Look at his track record. An instant classic in "Swingers," then two movies later an unexpected blockbuster "Bourne Identity" due in no small part to his guidance, and now another overachiever, "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the trailers i had seen for this. But with Liman's name on it and an interesting premise, and because my girlfriend and I missed "Cinderella Man" by five minutes, there we were watching it.
From the beginning I had a feeling I was going to like it. Its humor seemed to hit the mark and it had just the right tone. It starts out appropriately enough with the couple (who unfortunately we know from the trailers are both assassins) in marriage counseling. Both actors seem fully invested in their characters. A strong start.
Sure there's a lot of killing and the film seems to sort of make light of it. But this is just a big fantasy, a huge stretch of reality as any good action/adventure film should be. It's a study in the marriage relationship and reminds those so wed of how they just want to wring each other's necks sometimes, even thought they love each other deeply. Why? Communication. Turns out real problem with the Smith marriage is that they're hiding the biggest side of their lives from each other. They're the only ones each other has to talk to about assassination-related issues buy they can't (how frustrating is that?) Then once their occupations are discovered and their pitted against each other, the film slides toward the couple's reconciliation--or rather, will they or won't they? If they do, will it stick? Will one kill the other before they give it a fair shot? There's a lot of possibilities during this section of the film, a great luxury for a film to have.
This achieves for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" one of the most important elements of a good film story most these films days are lacking: a true sense of jeopardy for any main character. At any point during this film I thought it was possible for either of these characters to get bumped off. Somehow, it would've made thematic sense for it to happen to either of them. What's more, you give a damn! This suspense lasts to nearly the end of the film until the satisfying conclusion is reached.
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is my favorite film of the year so far and one of only a few I actually want to see again (a definite DVD purchase).