Cute, Silly and fun... an action flick to watch with your partner

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2005)

Maybe I am not a "REAL MAN" but I don't automatically run for the action aisle every time it's movie night for me and my girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, I don't care for what we'd typically call "chick flicks" either. So While I was searching DVD's for something to watch with my girl, I took a chance on this and put aside Batman Begins (for now) and Sisterhood of the travelling Pants (forever!) As it turned out, she and I really enjoyed ourselves with this flick. Granted, it is no cinematic masterpiece, but for an action flick it has some really endearing qualities. It plays on the premise that no couple really knows their significant other on the deepest levels as apparent by the opening marriage counselling sequences, but the film takes it a step further and asks "just how much do you want to know?" The plot is not new, the ending is somewhat predictable and the action sequences are a tad far fetched. But we are an imaginative species are we not? We can allow ourselves to suspend disbelief for just 90 minutes, no? When you do that, you find a film that has a lot of good laughs, a clever twist, some ultimately gratifying destruction sequences and two of the best eye-candy actors out there. Brad and Angelina are as captivating to watch here as they are on the supermarket tabloids.
Vince Vaughn gets some of the best comedic parts as John Smith's high strung, over-analyzing partner. The scenes where he is trying to console his friend are classic and worthy of a sequel if only to reprise and further develop this character.
All in all it's campy and silly, but the gunfights, explosions and general mayhem make it for a fun evening in, with almost anyone you choose to watch it with.