Guns and marriage.

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2005)

Before seeing "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," I'd never gone to a movie because of the actors who are in it. Movies are such a collaborative effort that it's usually very difficult to say it's good or bad because of an actor. This movie is a little simpler. I like the work of director Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity"), but this movies greatest strength is undoubtedly that the majority of screen time is given to images of two of the coolest, most beautiful people in the film industry.
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is an action movie, and it is a movie about John and Jane Smith's marriage. As an action movie, there is nothing particularly novel or interesting about it. If you like big explosions, and guns, and knives, and more guns, you will enjoy watching this movie. I don't particularly mind these things, but they were not nearly as interesting as the relationship between John and Jane. (Many people say it's actually the relationship between the actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but I'm not going to go there.) The concept of the story is thought-provoking. A married couple discovers that they have each been leading a secret life that their partner knows nothing about. When they find out, it revolutionizes their relationship.
The parts of the movie that focus on their marriage are the parts that I enjoyed watching. Not the scenes where they were in marital counseling, but the scenes in which momentous things are happening all around them, and suddenly they realize that their relationship is blossoming into something different. These scenes made me believe that they were John and Jane (rather than Brad and Angelina), and that the characters had a relationship that, fundamentally, was realistically human. This allowed me to identify with them.
When I was watching this movie, my experience was marred by noise. Not people-in-the-theater noise, but the-volume-was-too-loud noise. Before you think I should shut up and call the theater about this, let me say this. I was sitting just 5 seats over from where I sat during "Revenge of the Sith" and although that movie was also uncomfortably loud, it didn't bother me. Here's why: in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" the loud explosions, and over-long gun fights don't do very much to advance the interesting story of John and Jane's marriage. Instead, they show-case a dizzying array of weapons, and yet another boring scene of bad guys being killed while the good guys emerge from the fight virtually unscathed. If this were an artistic choice, and were anywhere near original, I might not complain. But I know it is pandering to the masses; that it is an effort to take more ticket money from those who have a thirst for stupid action and senseless killing.
If you like Brad or Angelina, you will like this movie. If you don't like gun violence, you will likely be turned off. If you are married, you will identify with or laugh at what I think are the best parts of the movie.