Pleasantly playful little Hollywood romp

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2006)

John and Jane Smith are an ordinary married suburban couple, with ordinary and fairly monotonous lives and a marriage that is devoid of any passion or romance. What they don't know about each other is that they both work as contract-killers - for competitive firms. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) is enticing entertainment at a high level, teasing you almost every step of the way.
The controversy surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's relationship certainly boosted and propelled the film when it was released - so was it all a publicity hoax? Only time will tell. In any case, Pitt and Jolie are sexy, dynamic, flirtatious and and playful as the married leads, thereby giving the film that little extra spark in the eye. Even when they are just sitting by the dinner table together, exchanging suspicious looks, the film plays on their sexual chemistry. Funnyman Vince Vaugh adds a subtle comedic edge in the role of Mr. Smith's assassin-colleague.
Unfortunately, the novelty of this sexual chemistry wears off sometime in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and this is a fatal failure for the whole film as it relies to heavily on this magnetism. It thereby becomes a bit too long and the plot is paper-thin, so that aspect can impossibly help carry the film once Pitt and Jolie's attraction is no longer a useful device. Nevertheless, I think everyone can find _something_ they like in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), because it really is quite a bit of fun.
7/10