Review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) by Jordan A — 06 Mar 2013

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is an unremarkable action/rom-com about two assassins that... Well, at first it seems to be about them trying to repair a damaged relationship, but the film goes off the rails at a certain point and simply ends up concentrating on them fighting off the spy agencies that had previously employed them. It honestly just feels as if the writers got lazy and said, "Well, people like explosions and guns. Let's give them some of that!" One of the few highlights of the film was the chemistry and banter between the two charismatic leads, and I don't know why the filmmakers would sacrifice that to stage a few action scenes that are not only completely forgettable and lacking intensity, but also shot in obnoxious shaky-cam and close-up. The film devolves from a clever rom-com (with a little action) into an utterly generic action flick. The character actions and plot completely stop acting as metaphors for relationship conflict and instead become those of your average shoot-'em-up.

In conclusion, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a film that squanders a clever premise to provide the audience with poorly shot, bland action. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have incredible chemistry, but the film just goes off a cliff partway through. It feels to me as if the film was written by two completely different people; one intending to make a clever, above-average romantic comedy, the other being inferior to the first writer and completely lacking an understanding of both the intentions of the first writer and what had made the first writer's material work.