A little harmless, implausible fun

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2005)

"Hey Johnny! So how is Mr. and Mrs. Smith?" Well, what exactly are you expecting from the movie? "Hmm, I'd say the action of Revenge of the Sith combined with the the clever script of Memento. Oh, and with complete plausibility thrown in for good measure." Ah, well in that case I would have to say you should probably be flogged with a wet, jello-filled straw. Don't worry, it's not too bad. Trust me. Then you should take my course, "How to Properly Analyze a Movie Based on its Trailer." It'll help you look a lot less like a jack-a-dandy and prevent you from complaining about how this movie is just too unbelievable.
Too unbelievable? You don't say. Look, right off the bat we're expected to believe that this couple has been married for 5 or 6 years, they're trained assassins who pride themselves on recon, and they never suspected the other of being an assassin. If you can buy that premise going into the movie then you waiver all rights to complain about anything else that's a bit far-fetched, OK?
Is this a great movie that I'll gladly add to my DVD collection the day it's released? Nah. But it was good for a couple of hours of non-analytical fun. It's a little slow-paced at times, and there is probably too much emphasis at the beginning on the mundanity of their marriage (they're bored, we get it), but once things start to kick in we get beautiful people, gunplay, car chases, explosions, one-line exchanges, inside jokes, and doses of humor thrown at us left, right, and up the middle. I'd also add "out the ying-yang" but that'd be too cliché. The fight scene between Brad and Angelina is particularly funny (though probably a little too reflective of a day in the life of Ike Turner), as is Vince Vaughn's small role. You gotta love his defense of living with his mom, "She cooks, cleans, makes my bed, and I'm the dumb guy?"
If you're looking for character development then you better keep on looking. Chances are you won't ever buy into the fact that you're supposed to be watching the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on screen. More likely you'll be thinking as I did, "Hey, there's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just having some fun!" But who cares? As long as it entertains then so be it. It doesn't really take itself seriously, so why should you?
I mean, come on, Angelina Jolie walks out of gunfights and explosions looking like she just walked out of a salon, so what are you expecting? It's funny because this prompted my sister Amber to comment, "I wish I could get blown up and still have my hair looking nice." To which I inquired, "Why would you want to get blown up in the first place? How about just wishing for your hair to look nice and not worry about being involved in an explosion?" Amber's response? "I'm just saying, if I were in a gunfight or explosion then I wish I'd walk away looking as fixed up as Angelina Jolie was." Oh. Well, THAT makes sense. *shakes head* Women.
THE GIST
There are some pretty cool scenes that I wouldn't mind witnessing again one day, but there are also some clunkers that I'd fast forward through just so I could get to the good stuff. In a Summer full of heavier (albeit entertaining) material, if all you want is to watch a bunch of beautiful people blow stuff up and aid you in a little escapism, then Mr. and Mrs. Smith just might satisfy.
3.5 marks (out of 5)