Only average, but could'be been great.

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2005)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been married for five or six years and have lived a seemingly mundane lifestyle. Their personal relationship is sinking and their sex life is down the hole (mind the pun.) However, what they are soon to find out is that they are in fact both contract killers and their next mission is to kill each other.
I was instantly intrigued by this movie, it had huge potential  such an original idea with a good director and actors should have been a great movie. But wasn't, so what went wrong?
No it wasn't the actors, nor the writing or producing. The main problem was that the story wasn't explored to its full capabilities. The synopsis that we read is only a small part of the movie and the rest seems to have been thought up on the spot to try and make the movie longer. There were so many aspects that could have been explored in this movie that were hardly touched on. For example: The psychological side of the story was hardly explored. Instead of letting the characters run with the idea of them each knowing their true identities and having a bit of fun, making it more entertaining and fun for the audience, it falls into the Hollywood blockbuster trap and they break out shooting at each other. This, to me, seems like a cop out by Mr. Liman, who proved to us he knows perfectly well how to make a good psychological action thriller in The Bourne Identity. I guess it is easier as a director of an action film to throw in a whole lot of explosions and CGI to try and impress your audience than to have a bit more of a think about your actual story and try to leave your audience entertained and left thinking after the movie.
This movie wasn't all bad though. The performances were quite good for what they were; Brad Pitt an Angelina Jolie did have good on screen chemistry (a little too good if you ask Jen) and did seem like a believable couple. Vince Vaughn was quite good as far as his acting capabilities go and Adam Brodie played a similar role to his in The O.C, a sarcastic rich teenager which is always fun Looking out the window of his limousine "Hey look, more desert!" Odd moments like this kept me going throughout the movie. And without giving away anything, I have to say I did like the ending.
Overall this movie was a silly little Friday night movie and didn't do any harm to watch. 6 and a half stars out of ten.