SHEDDING INK

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Usually in movies, the suspension of disbelief is reserved for the action within the film; when it has to be expanded to cover the plot, that's usually a real bad sign. Not so with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which successfully floats past the viewer the idea that two people could be married for five or six years and have no idea the other is also a top-notch assassin. It does so with a clever, funny script (is it just me, or is Vince Vaughn funny in everything these days?) and great chemistry between its leading actors, whose real-life "are they or aren't they" relationship notwithstanding have a definite connection on-screen. Imagine Eyes Wide Shut as a somewhat less intelligent action movie. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is simple, effective summer-movie fare; and while it takes the easy way out at the end, director Doug Liman never takes the plot too seriously and thereby sticks the landing on the few serious things the film has to say about marriage.

- June 23, 2005

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

A husband and wife discover they are top assassins for opposing "companies," and when they are hied to eliminate each other, sparks fly in their lifeless marriage.


Directed by Doug Liman


Written by Simon Kinberg


Starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Keith David

120 minutes
Rated PG-13 (violence, language, adult content and situations)

Grade: B