Netflix Movie of the Day: Mr and Mrs Smith delivers great chemistry from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Prime Video show starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as two arranged spies, has gotten great reviews (watch the trailer if you don’t know about it yet). But it’s very different from the original film it’s based on and which you can now stream on Netflix. The original takes the same concept β two hitmen are married to each other β but takes it from a different direction: in this film, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in a real marriage and keep their spy affairs a secret from each other.
Is the original Mr and Mrs Smith worth streaming?
Yes. The 2005 film is truly a classic Hollywood romance with battles β a comedy of heavy artillery β and the screen crackles with electricity every time Pitt and Jolie are together: they are clearly having a lot of fun making this film, and because they’re both very skilled actors, they deliver just enough seriousness to make the often quite ridiculous plot work. The fact that neither actor has fallen from the ugly tree also keeps you glued to the screen.
If Roger Ebert wrote at the time: “What makes the film work is that Pitt and Jolie have fun together on screen, and they’re able to find a rhythm that keeps them subdued and amused even during the most alarming developments.”
If rich points out that the story isn’t new: the same conceit was at the heart of the mid-’80s mafia movie Prizzi’s honor. But “where that was a subdued black comedy with all the kinetic energy of a chess game, Mr and Mrs Smith is a pinball tournament for speed freaks.” The film is a “full action movie, a subversive rom-com and a weapons-grade star vehicle drenched in Tinseltown glitz.”
Is it a movie you want to see dozens of times? Probably not, and it’s not on our list of the best Netflix movies overall. But if you’re looking for a two-hour thrill ride with great jokes, edge-of-your-seat action, and some of the most beautiful people in the world, Mr. and Mrs. Smith it is very nice.