I know that there are tons of rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but I'm not gonna get into any of that. The only rumors that interested me about the making of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" had to do with director Doug Liman's bizarre style of directing, and how it irked the film's stars and producers. I'll get into all that later, though.
When I first heard about "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," I thought it would be a remake of the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. Wrong! Same title, different storylines. The Hitchcock film is completely devoid of covert missions or assassins, it's a screwball comedy about a couple who learn that their marriage was invalid. In 1996, though, there was a short-lived TV series called "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" that starred Scott Bakula and Maria Bello. It was about two unmarried spies who are recruited by an intelligence agency to pose as a married couple during their missions. Similar, but not exact. That sounds like a show I could get into, especially with Maria Bello in it. Hopefully it comes out on DVD soon.
Anyway, back to the movie. I gotta be honest, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" has a lot of problems. To say that a truck can drive through the plot holes is an understatement. Truth be told, an entire convoy of trucks can drive through the plot holes, as well as a few boats and some jumbo jet airplanes. It seems like the movie was edited down big time, so maybe the director's cut could explain a lot of it. There's also the possibility that the shoot was so chaotic and the rewrites were so frequent that no cut would ever make the film more coherent. There was a steamy sex scene that was cut out in order to get the PG-13 rating, so either way, I'd like to see a director's cut.
In addition to the huge plot holes, the movie is way too far-fetched, it isn't even remotely believable. It seems very unlikely that people who do what the title characters do would go unrecognized, especially since they never wear costumes. Also, a lot of what they do is done out in the open. The crazy thing is, despite all of the problems, I really enjoyed this movie, and most of it has to do with the two leads. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are both famous for their looks, so their acting abilities often go unnoticed (in the case of Angelina Jolie, it doesn't help that I can't remember the last time she was in a good movie). However, they're both very good actors, and you see that in this movie. What you also see is their amazing chemistry. Actually, that's not putting enough emphasis on it. The chemistry is smoldering, and the two leads are on fire whenever they're on the screen together. In fact, their chemistry is so good, if no sequel is made, they should be in other movies together. In this film, they're a bickering couple, an icy couple, a polite couple, a couple of assassins trying to beat the shit out of each other... every moment of it works because of their chemistry.
Also in the movie is Vince Vaughn (his breakthrough role was in "Swingers," which was also directed by Doug Liman), who's hilarious, but his character needs serious work. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun character, but he's severely underwritten. Why is he there other than to provide comic relief? At a certain point, it seems like he will play a bigger role in the film, but that aspect is eventually dropped. Then there's Adam Brody (his character wears a "Fight Club" t-shirt in this movie, which is pretty cool). It's a very small role, so there isn't much to say there. If not for the fact that he plays a comic book geek on "The O.C.," I probably wouldn't have mentioned him at all (I don't watch "The O.C.," but I like the fact that it has a comic book geek in it).
According to many who have worked with him, Doug Liman is an eccentric, erratic director who seems to prefer working in an environment of chaos rather than order. In one article I read, a person who worked with him claimed that Liman is simply a bad director who's indecisive and lacks focus, and it's everyone else around him who ultimately saves the day. I don't know if that's true, but I do believe that the guy is a bit of a weirdo, and maybe his style of directing is hard to deal with. It can't be THAT bad, though. Vince Vaughn was willing to work with him again.
Producers have a hard time with Liman because his films go above schedule, over budget, and he's a total nut when he directs. Constant reshoots, constant script changes, shots that don't match, a chaotic set... that's a Doug Liman film shoot. However, whether it's because of him or despite him, his movies end up being really good. "Swingers" was a critically-acclaimed film and an indie hit that has gained a big cult following over the years. "Go" was a box office disappointment, but was well received by critics, and it also has a cult following of sorts. The movie he did next was his first big movie, "The Bourne Identity," and that one got good reviews and was a huge box office success. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing, though. The producers got fed up with Liman's antics, and they refused to do the sequel unless Doug Liman wasn't involved. With "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," second unit director Simon Crane supposedly directed a lot more than a second unit director normally would. If that's true, it may be because Liman butted heads with Angelina Jolie throughout the making of the film. I honestly don't know what's true and what isn't, but I DO know that every movie I've seen that says "Directed by Doug Liman" is a movie I enjoyed, even "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," despite the many flaws.
This film was written by Simon Kinberg, and this is his second produced feature film screenplay, the first being "XXX: State of the Union," which I never saw. He was a script doctor for many films, including "Elektra" and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," and though I didn't like those films, some scripts are beyond help, regardless of who does the script doctoring (shining example: Quentin Tarantino was a script doctor for "It's Pat," but not even he could make that movie watchable). Liman insisted that the screenplay for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" be rewritten a number of times during production, so if the end result is a mess, it's probably more Liman's fault than Kinberg's.
Categorically, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is not a good movie. It's far-fetched, it's silly, and the story makes very little sense. What saves it is Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and the chemistry they have together. Also, Vince Vaughn is always fun to watch. The movie is well-acted and it SEEMS well-directed, but unless a director's cut comes out, I'll never know how good (or bad) this movie really is. Of course, given Doug Liman's unique approach to filmmaking, a director's cut may just be an even bigger mess.
Scale of 1-10: 7