"Mom! We're on high alert here! I almost killed you right there!" - Eddie (Vince Vaughn)

Rating: 6/10 (29 June 2005)

Summer is the prime season to release the wham-bam guilty-pleasure action movie. These movies are pretty much brainless, but they are fun to watch because you can escape reality and watch someone get the crap beat out of them. Well, that's what Mr. And Mrs. Smith is. It's nothing more then a guilty pleasure popcorn flick, and I really enjoyed it. It isn't anything great, but it's a hell of an entertaining film, with immense amounts of explosions, cool cinematography, and some fantastic fight sequences. If you enjoy kicking back and watching some kick-ass action movies, 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith' is the movie for you. The movie is about a seemingly happy, seemingly normal suburban middle-class couple, the Smiths. All the neighbors like them, and invite them to all their mind-numbing Tupperware parties and such. Yes, John and Jane seem ever so content on the outside, but their marriage is falling apart. A lot of their passion for each other has faded (like most married couples), and they both have a big secret they are hiding from each other - they are both C.I.A. assassins. When the couple finds out these truths about each other they try to kill each other because their jobs come first. Watching Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt try to run over each other with cars, shoot at each other or attack each other with household appliances, 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith' kind of turns up being a violent version of 'War of the Roses'.
Doug Liman, who just recently directed 'The Bourne Supremacy', does a fine job with 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith'. It's nothing to even consider handing out an award for, but he makes sure the film stays fresh and doesn't drag. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are consistent in their parts, but I found that they didn't have very good on-screen chemistry, which is funny due to the two actually being a couple in real life. Vince Vaughn is funny and steals some scenes for the very limited screen time he has, and The O.C.'s Adam Brody seems to be just thrown into the cast for window dressing. Brody plays a role that could be cut from the movie easily, but the producers probably figured with him too in the film, it could boost ticket sales, especially for clamoring teenage girls who are obsessed with 'The O.C.'. Keith David has a short cameo as Father, and 'House's' Jennifer Morrison has an extremely short role as one of Jolie's co-workers.
In closing, 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith' is a big, loud, extravagant popcorn flick that any action fan will enjoy. I felt it was superior to a lot of other films in it's genre, because it had a perfect balance of fun, drama and comic relief, which is rare these days. It's a good film, not a great one, and certainly not one worthy of any kind of award. It's just a guilty pleasure, no more, no less. Grade: B- (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, Arizona, 6/10/05)
my ratings guide - A+ (absolutley flawless); A (a masterpiece, near-perfect); A- (excellent); B+ (great); B (very good); B- (good); C+ (a mixed bag); C (average); C- (disappointing); D+ (bad); D (very bad); D- (absolutley horrendous); F (not one redeeming quality in this hunk of Hollywood feces).