Style and Grace and Angelina Jolie has a Pretty Face!

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2005)

I spontaneously saw the new film by the director of The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy this afternoon. I haven't gone to a film on a whim in a very long time, but I'm glad I chose this one. I mean, not only does the film have the contract killa action that the Bourne films have, but the dialogue remains witty and clever without drowning out the primary theme of the film. And there's always the actors. I don't see how anything can go wrong with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the helm. I was watching "Brad Pitt: The Interview" the other night with Diane Sawyer, and I remember thinking to myself--as Pitt was discussing his divorce with Jennifer Aniston and the rumors swarming him and Jolie--"Wouldn't it be grand if these two beauties got together?" The chemistry between these two is really phenomenal. I mean, this isn't a romantic comedy, this is an action flick; yet, you're really pushing for these two to make it out alive--and together. Where, generally speaking, the romance between two individuals in an action film just doesn't matter that much.
I came into the theater thinking, "Okay, this'll be a clever reaction to The War of the Roses," but it really wasn't. It was something all its own, and it had a charm that Roses didn't have, that I found myself addicted to throughout the film. The charm was in the banter, the style, the believability of the whole thing. There was one scene that screamed Jerry Bruckenheimer, but other than that it convinced me. Oddly enough, however, it was the style that sutured me into the whole thing. The mentality and quips of the characters, the clothing they wore, the architecture of the scenes, the technology, the furniture--everything. I recommend the film, but I recommend you leave the credit cards at home or be ready for some strenuous self-discipline; you'll wanna go shopping afterward. That, or you might do some traffic weaving on the way home like I did.