Supremely Attractive Leads on a Crash-and-Burn Marital Obstacle Course

Rating: 4/10 (11 August 2006)

This clanging, crashing 2005 superstar coupling seems to aspire to be a new millennium retake on John Huston's "Prizzi's Honor" and Danny DeVito's "War of the Roses", but it turns out to be a gadget-oriented action flick with grand pretensions about how a seemingly ideal couple handle marital discord. It certainly helps that director Doug Liman (who did a superb job on the underrated "Go" in 1999) has cast two ludicrously attractive leads whose intertwining personal lives would eventually overshadow their on screen shenanigans. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star in the title roles, John and Jane Smith, and things start promisingly with Simon Kinberg's scattershot screenplay setting them up as typically upscale married suburbanites who both try to manage professional demands in light of a sagging marriage.
As it turns out, they are both highly paid assassins who of course, are hired to rub the other out. This revelation is hardly surprising, but I didn't know it would signal a significant decrease in creativity for the rest of the film even as the fireworks get more explosive. The special effects and swift gunplay can be dazzling but are left on overkill mode, but by far, the worst scene is an overextended fight scene between the two that eschews its black comedy elements in favor of a commercial for domestic violence. But even this would be forgivable if Liman and Kinberg could figure out how to end the story. It seems to breathe on high-octane but strangely remains devoid of any real suspense and then abruptly stops with no real denouement.
Pacing is a major problem with the movie as it feels like it goes on for far too long. Luckily, the stars have enough charisma to maintain some interest throughout. Both often lend a nice comic spark to their performances, though neither knows how to convey irony without an irritating wink-wink manner. As Eddie, Mr. Smith's cohort, Vince Vaughan seems to be the only one who seems completely adept at black comedy. Kerry Washington, on the other hand, makes virtually no impression as Mrs. Smith's task force colleague. Even though he shows off an impressive set of six-pack abs, Pitt seems particularly lost at times, but Jolie manages to dominate the pairing with her stunning beauty and take-no-prisoners attitude. It's too bad the story serves merely as a vehicle for their mutual posturing.