A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Date Viewed: 6/19/05

Details:

Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie

Vince Vaughn

Director: Doug Liman

Score: 1/2

The Review: Mildly amusing dark comedy about an attractive married couple living secret double lives: unknown to other, each is a secret agent and highly ranked assassin for one or another black ops agency. The punch line is delivered early, when each is assigned to take out the other; the puzzle is who figures out first, who the target really is.

There is indeed some undeniable on-screen chemistry between Pitt and Jolie, but even combining it with the curiosity of mutual secrets, doesn't quite carry the whole film. The occasional twist and turn helps keep the plot -- what there is of it -- from collapsing onto itself.

Smith is a minor example of the extreme black comedy that occasionally surfaces in Hollywood. But this is definitely not a remake of War of the Roses (1989, with Douglas and Turner), a depressing and excessive example of how not to divorce. On the other hand, it does bring to mind the Nicholson and Turner vehicle, Prizzi's Honor (1985); while Smith is set a bit more up-scale, the sense of humor and the situation are both similar. (Makes you wonder if Kathleen Turner didn't have an uncredited cameo in this movie.) But don't take too much from these comparisons: Smith is not quite in the same class as either of the others.

(31-Jul-05)

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