Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)
| Mr. & Mrs. Smith | |
|---|---|
| File:Mr and mrs smith poster.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Doug Liman |
| Written by | Simon Kinberg |
| Produced by | Akiva Goldsman Arnon Milchan |
| Starring | Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn Kerry Washington Adam Brody |
| Cinematography | Bojan Bazelli |
| Edited by | Michael Tronick |
| Music by | John Powell |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox Fox Atomic |
Release date | June 10, 2005 |
Running time | Theatrical cut 120 minutes Unrated cut 123 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $110 million |
| Box office | $478,336,279 |
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic action comedy film, directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell. The film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a bored married couple who learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other.
Plot
The film opens with John (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) answering questions during marriage counseling. The couple has been married for "five or six" years, but their marriage is suffering to the point that they cannot remember the last time they had sex. They tell the story of their first meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, where they met while both were secretly on the run from Colombian authorities. They quickly fell in love and were married. John later states that Jane "looked like Christmas morning" to him on the day they met.
In reality, John and Jane are both skilled assassins working for different firms, both among the best in their field, but both with very different methods of assassination with Jane working out thorough plans and John taking a less analytical approach. Each are concealing their true profession from their spouse. Under these cover stories, John and Jane balance their apparently mundane marriage — which both of them find after a few years to be growing dull and suffocating — with their secretive work. When both are assigned to kill Benjamin "The Tank" Danz, they encounter each other on the job and botch the hit. Believing each had been sent to stop the other from completing their mission, they seek to discover and eliminate the other.
After a few "mild" attempts on each other's lives, fueled by a mutual sense of betrayal, the marital spat culminates in an elaborately choreographed, high-octane fight in the Smith house. After a long, evenly-matched fight, with their house shot to shambles, they wind up with guns in each other's faces. John balks, and lays his gun down; Jane finds she cannot shoot her spouse either, and both succumb to their love instead. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reunite and rediscover each other.
The newly-rekindled Smith partnership is quickly threatened by their employers, who have now decided to eliminate the couple. John's best friend and coworker, Eddie (Vince Vaughn), turns down a bounty of $400,000 for each Smith, but John and Jane find themselves under fire from an army of assassins. Fending off an attack which blows up their house, the Smiths steal their neighbor's minivan and successfully destroy three pursuing armored cars of attackers, all while bickering over their fighting styles and newly-discovered personal secrets.
After meeting with Eddie, the Smiths decide to fight together to preserve their marriage. They kidnap Danz from his high-security prison in order to give their employers something they want more than the Smiths. Danz reveals that he was merely bait, hired jointly by their employers after it was discovered that the Smiths were married, in the hopes of having one Smith kill the other.
John and Jane forgo their separate contingency plans and make their stand together. In the final fight scene of the film, the Smiths — now working smoothly together as a team — defeat an extended attack by a large number of armed forces during a long shoot-out inside a department store.
The film ends with the couple meeting the marriage counselor, where the happy Smiths state how much their marriage has thrived, realizing how happy they really are.
Cast
- Brad Pitt as John Smith
- Angelina Jolie as Jane Smith
- Vince Vaughn as Eddie
- Kerry Washington as Jasmine
- Adam Brody as Benjamin "The Tank" Danz
- Keith David as Father
- Chris Weitz as Martin Coleman
- Rachael Huntley as Suzy Coleman
- Michelle Monaghan as Gwen
- Benton Jennings as Maitre'D
- Stephanie March as Julie - Associate #1
- Jennifer Morrison as Jade - Associate #2
- Theresa Barrera as Janet - Associate #3
- Perrey Reeves as Jessie - Associate #4
- Melanie Tolbert as Jamie - Associate #5
- Angela Bassett (uncredited) as Voice of Mr. Smith's boss
- William Fichtner (uncredited) as Dr. Waxler - Marriage Counselor
Background
Screenwriter Simon Kinberg came up with the idea for the film after listening to a couple of his friends who were in therapy for their marriage. Kinberg noticed that the way they were describing it sounded "aggressive and mercenary" and he "thought it would make an interesting template for a relationship inside of an action film.”[1]
Release
Box office
As of October 26, 2009, the film has grossed approximately $478,336,279 worldwide.[2]
Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 58% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 189 reviews, and an average score of 6/10, with the consensus that "Although this action-romance suffers from weak writing and one too many explosions, the chemistry generated by onscreen couple Pitt and Jolie is palpable enough to make this a thoroughly enjoyable summer action flick." [3]
Prominent critic Roger Ebert noted the good chemistry between Pitt and Jolie, also praising the screenplay for its entertainment value. Ebert awarded the film three stars out of a possible four.
Music
Two soundtrack albums were released from the film: a film score composed by John Powell and a soundtrack with songs used in the film. The albums were released at different times to avoid confusion, the former was released on June 28 and the latter on June 7, 2005.
Television pilot
In 2007, a pilot for a spin-off television series was made for the ABC network. Set six months after the end of the film[4], it was written by Simon Kinberg and directed by Doug Liman. Kinberg described the proposed tv series as "Married... with Children with guns"[5].The roles of John and Jane were played by Martin Henderson and Jordana Brewster. ABC decided not to commission the series.
Home media
A two-disc unrated version of the film was released on DVD on June 6, 2006. On the original DVD version during a commentary with the director, he mentions that he was not able to use as much sex and violence as they had originally filmed to meet the PG-13 rating.
References
- ^ Murray, Rebecca, Writer Simon Kinberg Discusses "Mr and Mrs Smith" and "X-Men 3", About.com, 9/6/2005, retrieved 29/4/2010
- ^ "Mr. And Mrs. Smith". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. October 26, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^ "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ Ford Sullivan, Brian,THE FUTON'S FIRST LOOK: "MR. & MRS. SMITH" (ABC), The Futon Critic, 06.12.07, retrieved 14/11/09
- ^ Adalian, Josef, ABC gets with 'Smith', Variety, 1/1/07, retrieved 16/11/09
External links
