More like Mr. and Mrs. Sexy
Travis Lowry
Issue date: 6/14/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The rest of the supporting cast is pure window dressing, most noticeably Jane's inexplicable all-female agency and two bizarre, barely-there appearances by Angela Bassett and Keith David as John and Jane's bosses, which are distracting and sort of infuriating when you know that whole sub-plots involving the two talented and always interesting actors have been left on the cutting room floor.
In fact the couple's jobs as assassins are extremely underdeveloped. There is no clear explanation or exploration of who either of them work for, what their agencies' purposes are or even evidence that John and Jane are as ruthless and cunning as killers as the movie wants us to believe. They are both too cuddly to be taken too seriously as deadly, which is okay because the movie's basic premise is that the married couple is leading separate, more exciting lives without the other.
Though featuring many impressive and exciting action sequences, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is first and foremost a comedy, and a good one at that, thanks to winning performances and Liman's direction of Kinberg's clever script. The film doesn't have much of a story going for it, but when immensely pleasurable scenes like the POV shots of John and Jane in marriage counseling that bookend the movie are as funny as they are, a sly and confident exploration of the quirks of a long term relationship amidst impressively choreographed action more than makes up for plot-holes you could park an In Touch delivery van in.
In fact the couple's jobs as assassins are extremely underdeveloped. There is no clear explanation or exploration of who either of them work for, what their agencies' purposes are or even evidence that John and Jane are as ruthless and cunning as killers as the movie wants us to believe. They are both too cuddly to be taken too seriously as deadly, which is okay because the movie's basic premise is that the married couple is leading separate, more exciting lives without the other.
Though featuring many impressive and exciting action sequences, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is first and foremost a comedy, and a good one at that, thanks to winning performances and Liman's direction of Kinberg's clever script. The film doesn't have much of a story going for it, but when immensely pleasurable scenes like the POV shots of John and Jane in marriage counseling that bookend the movie are as funny as they are, a sly and confident exploration of the quirks of a long term relationship amidst impressively choreographed action more than makes up for plot-holes you could park an In Touch delivery van in.
