In a sentenceAngelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are good company until the film insists on bringing more guns
John Smith (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) are the central characters in Doug Liman’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Vince Vaughn plays Eddie, with Adam Brody as Benjamin Danz and Kerry Washington as Jasmine. Written by Simon Kinberg, the film combines action and comedy with drama and thriller elements. The supporting cast includes Chris Weitz as Martin Coleman, Rachael Huntley as Suzy Coleman and Michelle Monaghan as Gwen. This 2005 film runs for 120 minutes and has a 15 certificate.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt make Doug Liman’s action comedy an enjoyable diversion, but their chemistry has too much work to do. Thin characters and routine later action make this chiefly an evening for its stars.
Doug Liman’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is enjoyable enough for an evening, provided the attraction is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. They give the comedy a relaxed confidence that the screenplay never quite earns. The early mixture of action and flirtation is light enough to enjoy without asking much of it. The trouble comes when the film needs to develop that initial attraction and instead gives the shooting more space.
The leads’ rapport is the strongest reason to stay. We enjoyed watching them together because neither seems intimidated by the other’s appeal, and their shared confidence gives the comedy some welcome ease. There is pleasure in seeing performers who can share our attention without appearing to fight for it. That can sustain a scene, though asking it to sustain an entire film begins to look like a staffing decision.
Simon Kinberg’s screenplay gives the pairing too little to develop. The characters remain thin, and the pleasure of watching the leads together does not grow into much concern about what happens to them. An action comedy need not become a searching drama, but it does need a reason for us to care once charm has made the introductions. Here the writing keeps relying on the same attraction, with diminishing returns as the film proceeds.
Bojan Bazelli’s cinematography suits this emphasis on star appeal. The polished images help make the performers worth watching even when the writing gives us little reason to look more closely at their characters. Jeff Mann’s production design contributes to that glossy presentation, though the finish does more for the film’s immediate appeal than for its credibility. The visual assurance makes the thin writing harder to excuse: the care taken over how everything looks is readily apparent.
Michael Tronick’s editing has to manage the shift from comic interplay to sustained action, and the balance becomes less rewarding in the final third. The early stretches give the comedy room to register; later, the shooting takes up too much of our attention. Liman can make action and comedy work together, which makes the move towards a routine shoot-’em-up disappointing. The film has already demonstrated that it can entertain without leaning so heavily on gunfire.
John Powell’s music contributes energy, although the film seldom seems short of that. The score has less chance of helping with the missing emotional investment, which needed attention in the screenplay. Against the standards of the action comedy, the early passages offer a promising combination of attraction, humour and danger. The better examples of the genre keep finding ways for character to make the action funny, and that connection becomes weaker here as the spectacle expands.
At 120 minutes, the film also asks for more patience than its slight character writing justifies. We do not need every diversion of this kind to be memorable, but we do expect its later stretches to offer something beyond more strenuous versions of its earlier pleasures. There is enough entertainment here for anyone particularly drawn to the leads, with some patience required once the comedy starts losing ground. If the pairing does not appeal, there is little reason to give it two hours.
The reviews lean towards mixed, with praise clustering around Pitt and Jolie’s chemistry rather than the story built around them. Even some sceptical critics acknowledge the leads’ charm and the polished visuals. The more favourable responses enjoy the combination of action, comedy and romance, finding enough adult mischief to overlook the thin material. Empire and Digital Spy are notably enthusiastic, treating the pairing as a source of sustained fun.
The divide is wide, however, and the recurring complaint is that star appeal cannot compensate for shallow writing or increasingly routine gunplay. Several reviews find the film entertaining only up to a point, with the final stretch drawing particular reservations. Variety argues that it runs too long and never develops emotional momentum, while Eye for Film rejects it more thoroughly, finding neither memorable characters nor satisfying entertainment. The disagreement centres on how much the two stars can carry.
Braund calls it gloriously amoral, grown-up fun, though the ending goes a bit nuts. He especially praises the sparkling chemistry between Pitt and Jolie.
Read the full review →The page identifies this as a Current Cinema review of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” but does not show the review text. Its verdict and any specific praise or complaint are therefore unavailable.
Read the full review →The page identifies this as a film review, but its verdict is not available in the accessible text. No specific praise or complaint from the critic can be established.
Read the full review →The review finds the film glossy and entertaining at first, but says it becomes a generic shoot-'em-up in its final third. It praises the chemistry between Pitt and Jolie and Liman’s deft mix of comedy and action.
Read the full review →Gonzalez finds the film shallow and pandering, saying it relies too heavily on its stars’ sex appeal. He praises a few fierce moments, including Jolie’s leap from a skyscraper and an exciting car chase.
Read the full review →Mackie finds the film reasonably entertaining but smug and vacuous. He singles out Pitt and Jolie’s easy-on-the-eye appeal, while lamenting the director’s shift away from more imaginative, relatable films.
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