Film Reviews

Mr and Mrs Smith

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Angelina Jolie
• Details: US / 110 mins (12A).

Professional killers John (Pitt) and Jane (Jolie) Smith are so good at their jobs that neither spouse is aware of the other's secret identity until both botch the same assassination job. With their marriage falling apart anyway, the logical solution is for both to try to murder the other. At least, that's the logical approach according to the twisted reality of Doug Liman's film. A virtual rehash of the Michael Douglas Kathleen Turner vehicle The War of the Roses, with added bazookas and explosions, Mr and Mrs Smith takes the battle of the sexes into a far more literal realm than is strictly necessary - a fist fight in which Pitt kicks lumps out of Jolie is as cynical, crass and dangerous as the sex scene which follows, in which Jolie punches Pitt in the head. With a premise as false as Jolie's nailed-on knowing smile, and the stars exhibiting all the chemistry of a malfunctioning stink bomb, Liman has no choice but to crank up the action scenes. Anyone who's seen the Bourne movies will appreciate that Liman can contrive explosive action sequences with the best of them, but by the time the bullets and grenades start flying, you're past caring if anyone survives. Pitt mugs furiously and manages a few decent comic moments, but Jolie is in Lara Croft mode, and the animated version at that.

Review by Declan Burke