Mr. And Mrs. Smith (2005)

Rating: ***
Review Date: 6/19/05
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Keith David

A silly, but enjoyable, romantic action comedy whose central theme seems to be the therapeutic value of violence on a stagnant marriage. John Smith (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) are top-notch assassins working for rival agencies. They're also married to each other, and neither knows of the other's secret occupation. Unfortunately, their six-year marriage is on the rocks and lacks any sort of spice or satisfaction. Things start to change when they both get assigned to the same hit, and then get orders to kill each other. Through their various attempts on each other's lives, their love for each other rekindles and they eventually end up working together against their common foe - which is EVERYONE in the intelligence community. While the proceedings are laughable and nothing actually gets resolved, the action scenes are quite good and surprisingly vicious. The dialog is mostly serviceable and inoffensive, with a few really good lines and a number of really awful ones. Mostly, you just want the two of them to stop talking so much. The two leads are good, and Brad Pitt's dorky character plays well off of Angelina Jolie's sexy sophistication. And of course, seeing Ms. Jolie handle a gun is always a treat.