Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Meet John and Jane Smith better known as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are, among other things, a dysfunctional married couple in this action/thriller spoof of assassin movies. Pitt and Jolie are equally matched here, in beauty as well as talent, as a bored married couple. On the surface their separate lives are as sedate and boring as their married life, she works on Wall Street, he owns a large construction company. They are in therapy to save their six year marriage because, although they are still in love, their marriage has lost its snap. However, both have a secret; each is a paid assassin. They keep money and weapons in their secret hidey holes around the house and go about their assignments as you would go to your 9 to 5 office job. In another movie, the killings may be too grim to watch, here they are just tongue-in-cheek silly. Mr. Smith walks into the back room of a bar, says a few words, kills his target "Lucky" and walks out. With this, his work day is over and he heads home for dinner. His wife asks where he has been. He says that he has been to a sports bar; she asks how he made out and he says "I got Lucky". Silly? Definitely, but that's what makes this movie so much fun.

All goes well for the Smith's until they are given the same target to wipe out. They bungle the job because each one gets in the others' way. After they botch their jobs, Jane and John are given special assignments in a remote dessert location. It is here that they find out the truth about each other. They now realize that they are assassins for separate agencies and have been assigned to kill each other. When the couple becomes aware of what the other one does, the dynamics change and the real action begins. Look for Vince Vaughn as Eddie, a master assassin who still lives at home with his mother because she is a good cook. Eddie tries to give some advice to the Smith's, he states, "If you two stay together, you're dead". Do they stay together? Do they separate? Or do they complete their assignments and kill each other? Go to this movies and find out. There is not much substance to this movie, but it is such fun that you will have a good time anyway. Vince Vaughn is wonderful, it is too bad he had so few lines. Not to worry. You can catch him starring in another summer blockbuster movie The Wedding Crashers (2005) where he really shines. Although you don't see the person giving John Smith his assignment, you do hear her clearly. That is the voice of actress Angela Basset. Angela Basset is probably most remembered as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It (1993). She was also Stella in How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998). Basset was also in Waiting to Exhale (1995). Rated PG 13

Jolie was awesome in the 1998 movie Gia. Although this movie has no rating, it does deal with heavy drug use. Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Actor John Voight. For more Jolie information go to http://www.wutheringjolie.com/nuke/

-Vanette Ryanes

Vanette Ryanes is a true movie maven. She has been an avid movie fan for more than 35 years and has a video library of 200 plus movies. She has a vast knowledge of classic black and white, noir and vintage color movies. If you have questions about movies contact Vanette, (Vannie to her friends) for answers, advice and recommendations. 

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