Today’s quick review: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie) Smith are an ordinary suburban couple with an unusual secret: each is a spy for a different agency, unbeknownst to the other. Their superficial life together is interrupted when John and Jane recognize each other on a mission. With their covers blown, their agencies decide to tie up the loose ends and order the Smiths to kill each other. A deadly suburban cat-and-mouse game ensues as John and Jane cope with the dissolution of their marriage even as they try to kill one another.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a fun action comedy that crosses the spy genre with the travails of marriage. Angelina Jolie plays the no-nonsense Jane Smith, whose boring suburban life covers a much more dramatic world of espionage and assassinations. Brad Pitt brings his goofy charm to the role of John Smith, a capable spy who goes with his gut more than the rulebook. Their chemistry is great, a mixture of frustration at their sham marriage, professional detachment, and genuine attraction. The irony is that the two connect better as spies than they ever did as an ordinary couple, even if they are trying to kill each other.
Watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith if you are looking for a light, fun watch with plenty of action and plenty of humor. Anyone who has enjoyed Brad Pitt in a movie will like him in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, while Angelina Jolie is the perfect foil to his run-and-gun attitude. The spy aspects of the setting are never fleshed out, so those looking for a fully-realized spy universe or a cohesive spy plot will be disappointed. The deliberately light tone keeps the humor alive in what would otherwise be a tense situation, sacrificing drama for humor. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is not a ground-breaking movie or a must-see, but simply a solid and easy-to-find choice that gives marital strife an amusingly literal form.
6.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.5 for good chemistry, a fun sense of humor, and nice action.