Mr. And Mrs. Smith DVD Review

"MR AND MRS SMITH" reviews

DVD

MR AND MRS SMITH

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-11-18 16:32:20

Provider

DVD Review

The much-rumoured relationship between lead actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made this one of the most talked about movies of 2005.

Director Doug Liman's urbane comedy - he also made hipster comedy Swingers before hitting action-packed pay-dirt with Bourne Supremacy - resists the temptation to cast the stars as adulterous lovers, but rather a married couple, each working as a hired assassin without the other's knowledge. But when they're contracted to rub each other out it's time to open up about their extracurricular activities.

The film borrows its title from an old Hitchcock screwball comedy and its plot from John Huston's '80s hit, Prizzi's Honour. But it excels with the kind of sharp, sophisticated one-liners that once the preserve of Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Pitt and Jolie are surprisingly good as the leads (it seems like ages since Pitt's been asked to do anything but pose in pictures and the dialogue here drives Ocean's 11 and 12 back into the seat).

This being the noughties, the pyrotechnics aren't confined to the smouldering couple but injected to whip the action along. That unnecessary distraction aside, Mr And Mrs Smith is a welcome diversion from the soap opera that governs the two stars' private lives. Who knows, maybe one day it will be remembered chiefly on its own plentiful merits?

DVD bonus features aren't great but do include various audio commentaries, deleted scenes, 'Making A Scene' featurette and trailers.