Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Ah, yes, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie starring together at last. Well, I guess. This was one of those movies where the backstage and media hype seemed to outweigh the actual movie. It reminded me of Proof of Life a couple years back when Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe were suspected of becoming romantically involved, which led to the end of her marriage with Dennis Quiad. That movie was a stinker all the way, but made money due to the interest brought on by the scandal. This is nearly the same situation, with Pitt and Jolie rumored to have had an affair, which led to the divorce of Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The difference here is, this movie ain't no stinker.
The movie opens with Pitt and Jolie, as Mr. John Smith and Mrs. Jane Smith respectively, going into couples therapy. They aren't very happy with their marriage, and who can blame them? They both have secrets from each other. They are each leading double lives as assassins for competing companies. And neither knows about the other. This all changes as they are given assignments to take out the same person. They nearly kill each other, not knowing who it is interfering with the hit. After some investigation, they find out their enemies are each other, and the second act of the movie has them going at each other.
They actually do come face to face in a final showdown, and destroy their house in the process. After all the fussin and feudin, they discover the passion they had in the beginning. They decide they don't want to kill each other, which means that their bosses are after them. And, we learn later, their bosses were in cahoots to get each of them killed, on account of their living arrangment.
The final act is a cat-and-mouse chase with the Smiths going up against random assassins, and finally going toe-to-toe in a department store, and actually winning the shoot-out. Even though they know they're going to be hunted, they decide to stay together and be in love.
All in all, this movie had everything. The chemistry between Pitt and Jolie in undeniable, and its easy to see how the relationship could have started rumors flying. They act like a married couple, and seem very comfortable together. Of course, they seem this way with pretty much every co-star they've individually been with. Its called acting, people!
Anyway, add Vince Vaughn ina small, but hilarious role as Pitt's best friend, and you've got an entertaining ride from start to finish. An actual original idea from a summer which boasts very little original ideas, and it hits a home run all the way. 8 of 10. Worth a peek for sure.
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