A Tasteless, over the top $110,000,000 Tom and Jerry episode between the only two people on the planet you'd pay to see running on a non-existent story and script.

Rating: 4/10 (12 November 2007)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a film that can sum up perfectly what's wrong with not only American cinema but star power and utilising (or taking advantage of) it. Here, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star as two people, married and yet have been able to keep one secret from one another: they are both international assassins for hire. Lots of things don't add up in this film resulting in it being a horrid and un-engaging film that I could only minutely recommend for perhaps having one or two decent chase sequences or action scenes.
The mentioning of 'star power' is relevant because even I could've starred as Mr. Smith in this film and someone picked off the street could've starred as Mrs. Smith but Pitt and Jolie get people into the cinema, I guess. Secondly, this is the reason American cinema is where it is with lots of dumb action and fast edits being the hook to drag everyone in: ironically enough, I saw this on November the 11th which is remembrance day here in Britain and what kind of film did I get to see that Sunday night? A network premiere of two people armed to the teeth with guns and explosives; jumping around and shooting the hell out of each other, the house in which they live, moving cars and other bad guys all the time not taking a bullet apart from the time Mrs. Smith hits her husband with a knife accidentally  if only it was as easy as this on D-Day or in the battle of the Somme or during Vietnam or Desert Storm.
I have a number of gripes about this film, one of which being the fact the film was made on $110,000,000: what a crock since this could've been made on a lot less, surely. Another gripe is the direction of Doug Liman; a man who delivered an entertaining film called 'Go' several years ago; a film that was clever since it didn't portray homosexuals as Hollywood would normally do; a film that was funny in its dialogue and engaged with its characters and their problems; a film that had three stories going at once  Mr. and Mrs. Smith didn't even HAVE a story; how it must've wished it could've borrowed one from Go. I also don't believe the way they could keep the secret from one another for so long: the film establishes a perfect Suburban American life and cleverly places Mrs. Smith's arsenal in the cooker, a place the typical male might never look therefore the secret's safe.
The actual premise for the film seems so clever and original, it can't fail. I can just see the fat cats rubbing their hands: We'll get Pitt and Jolie, sex them up a few times and get them to shoot the crap out of each other and everyone else when we need to as well as a stupid script that the idiots out in contemporary cinema land will love. There are the obligatory love scenes at the beginning; Jolie in a sexy outfit performing her first kill and lots of gung-ho action. The idea behind this film is so very basic that it's not enough to form an actual story. I was confused as to why Mr. and Mrs. Smith couldn't just explain to each other why they were going after the same hit; the fact these two now apparently hate each other and shoot at each other with intent to kill and yet we know that there's no reason for them to do so  we don't even have the pleasure of being led down the path since we already know there's no point of them doing what they're doing. The originality and humour behind these two bullet-proof people shoot each other becomes boring in its delivery after the third time it does so. First time you think: OK, very funny; second time you think: Yeah, you just did that and after that the same thing just keeps on coming and you just don't give a damn, you are begging the film to end. The fun and originality behind the whole idea becomes monotonous.
There is still room for me to say that Mr. & Mrs. Smith comes very close to a Charlie's Angels film once the brainless action steps up a gear for the final shootout but you'll have switched off by that time; the way they bicker during the car chase as they manage to flawlessly pick off any chasing enemies is so bad, it's cringe worthy. I read that director Liman was inspired by no less than five films before making this and it shows; it's a little bit of everything you don't want and in my opinion, five films is too many to be inspired by: where's the originality, Doug? Go and The Bourne Identity were good films  what happened? The film should be avoided unless you are literally looking for a two hour no-brainer featuring lots of loud rubbish, technology that hasn't been invented yet and Pitt and Jolie earning their cheques for having silly fun that eventually turned into a proper relationship: what a rip-off.