Mr and Mrs Smith (2005)

I'm really not quite sure why I watched this. The first half an hour or so is quite enjoyable and watchable but the rest, well, the less said the better. Let me just get one thing straight right off. I have no hatred of, or vendetta against, action films. A well done action film can keep you glued to the edge of your seat. This didn't. The film concerns Mr (Brad Pitt) and Mrs (Angelina Jolie) Smith, two hired assassins neither of whom know the other is an hired assassin. A job goes wrong and they suddenly realise (shock horror) who the other one is.

The plot is laughable and the last 45 minutes or so of the film is spent running away from balaclava-clad bad dudes who want, for some reason, to kill poor old Mr and Mrs Smith just because they're married. Jesus, hitman companies have pretty exacting standards. Count me out, I'll be a spy. Arnie never had this much trouble in True Lies. The worst scene of all involves them beginning to shoot each other for no reason without even questioning whether or not they might actually want to kill their partner of many years. Then they suddenly stop trying to shoot each other with a like amount of questioning. It was at this point I lost faith, though I did persevere until the end. Oh yes, the end. Well, there isn't really one and the film ends very abruptly.

Pitt and Jolie sleepwalk their way through the film, there is no chemistry between them (quite surprising really), and the only good performance comes courtesy of the ever-dependable Vince Vaughn. Adam Brody is sadly far, far, too underused, which is a shame, as his character might actually have been vaguely interesting. At least it can go down as one of the very few 'egalitarian' films we've been harping on about on the site for over a month, it's just a shame it doesn't do such films many favours.

There are a few laughs to be had, but not many, and a few god scenes, but not many. It has very little to recommend it actually, despite a solid first half hour. Avoid.

D