Going into Mr. And Mrs. Smith, it is important to know that the film is unintelligent and completely implausible. If you’re not going to be able to get past that, don’t go. If you’re going to go into the movie, detect plot holes, announce them to everyone around you like you’re the only one that notices them, and follow it all up by letting out an exasperated sigh, just stop. You’re not going to like this movie. Stay home and build a ship in a bottle. If you can get past this, however, and are looking to have some mindless fun, there are worse movies to go see than this one.
This is director Doug Liman’s first film since The Bourne Identity, which I watched on cable one night and instantly forgot. His other two previous outings, Swingers and Go, are okay, well…Swingers is good for Vince Vaughn and John Favreau’s banter and chemistry; Go I vaguely remember as being nothing more than passable. I guess what I’m driving at is; Liman has a track record of making inoffensive but forgettable films. The good news is, this time, he does pretty much the same thing. Well, I guess that’s less good news and just, news.
Liman remembers the cult following Vince Vaughn’s work as the character Vince Vaughn created for the movie Swingers, and he’s put the actor to good use here. Vaughn lends some legitimate LOL humor to the film by playing, you guessed it; Vince Vaughn. Honestly the man could appear in films playing, essentially, himself for at least another ten years and I don’t think I would ever tire of it. My attention has to turn, then, to the film’s two principle cast members; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They’re good. While I’ve never really gotten the whole fascination with Angelina, I am unabashedly a Brad Pitt fan. The man never seems to disappoint, and once again, he is one of the best things about this movie. Never before has a man been able to so effectively charm the stubbornly heterosexual pants off of me, but Mr. Pitt is in a league of his own. Like I said previously, I’ve never seen the great appeal in Angelina, but she seems to do it for everyone else, and her and Pitt have pretty good chemistry.
I had a few problems with the way the film was photographed, namely an early action scene in the desert that broke the 180 degree rule so many times I had no idea where anything was in relation to anything else, and a few instances of strictly talkey scenes needlessly being shot in handheld giving them a bouncey, disorienting feel. Overall, though, the camerawork wasn’t much of a problem, and the later action scenes were easy to follow. I just expected a little more from cinematographer Bojan Bazelli, who is responsible for a couple of my past favorites; Pumpkinhead and A Gnome Named Gnorm.
Other than Vince Vaughn’s usual funny performance, there are also a few other chuckles throughout the film; but overall the movie isn’t nearly as cute as it thinks it is. The script is jam packed with innuendo and attempted allegory linking the work of an ultra-violent assassin with married life, and most of it falls flat. This is, I guess, to be expected as screenwriter Simon Kinberg’s past work includes XXX: State of the Union, and script doctoring Elektra and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Don’t let that resume deter you too much, though, as this movie isn’t nearly as bad as those pieces of drizzling excrement; just keep in mind that you’re in store for that kind of flash over substance style.
Early in the film, I felt it was hovering between a ** and *** rating, but a great action scene in the middle of the movie where Brad and Angelina destroy their house kicking the hell out of each other, and the usual good stuff from Pitt and Vaughn pushed the film to *** for me. Keep a special lookout for the couple of instances where Pitt kicks fallen opponents in the ribs; both made me cheer audibly. That man is so dreamy.
