Good Chemistry in an exaggerated all-star vehicle

Rating: 6/10 (10 June 2005)

Upgraded as of 4 August 2008:
Brad Pitt plays Mr. Smith, a professional engineer who is apparently happily married with his wife Jane for 5 (or 6) years and live in a lavish house in a New York suburb. But things are not always what they seem. Both are first-class killers who pull of their jobs and keep them in secret... even from each other. Until the moment comes when the two, who come from rival organisations, end up facing... each other and... they fall into a trap.
Surprusingly good all-star vehicle in which Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt show off their chemistry to the full, which is so close to real life (even though they denied it at first). The two make very good performances and really light up the scene with their witty quarrels and word-trading. Vince Vaughn is a nice addition to the film as he adds more to its saving grace of humour. Doug Liman creates some very good action sequences, without the cliché Matrix-like shots and keeps the movie with the right pace.
However, the film becomes more over-the-top and exaggerated towards the end (where the two Smiths take out an entire elite squad in a supermarket a lá Matrix) and moves on to a corny and abrupt conclusion. Also, the lack of a central villain (or villains, since there has been an alliance between the two companies to pick off the Smiths) cripples the somewhat crude screenplay, all this undermining an otherwise first-rate action-comedy film.
But the movie doesn't hesitate to get started, and the two leads will make this an adequate date film.
**1/2 out of **** stars