Summer of Film #1 of 100
Not exactly the best film to open my ‘summer of film’ with, but it was a Friday, it was fresh and it was playing at the local Landmark theatre– which as a combination makes it inevitable.

There are two films within Mr. and Mrs. Smith– one I shall refer to as ‘Mr.’ and the other as ‘.Mrs.’
The ‘Mrs.’ film is smart, quirky and lives up to the hype. Pitt and Jolie do have spectacular ‘chemistry’ (which is just a word for good dialogue and great acting) and the film deals with the idea of an assassin couple the way say American Beauty deals with marital discord; only with the assistance of guns and grenades. Which brings us to the other film.

The ‘Mr.’ film is an mindless action film where the idea of a spectacular climax is one hundred people shooting at each other until only two are left alive (I leave it to you to figure out which two!). The last half hour of the film is this version- where all earlier charisma, charm and subtlety is thrown out the door in favor of people shooting at each other. Now I like a good shootout once in a while, but when it’s the only action device employed in a film you begin to question the need for the ‘Mr.’ version in the first place.