Mr. & Mrs. Smith
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington, Vince Vaughn
Extras: Audio Commentary, Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Teaser, Theatrical Trailer
Rating:
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a pure example of what terrific chemistry between two actors can produce on screen, maybe a little too well.
Suffering from a stagnant and borderline bland marriage for five (or possibly six) years, John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie) Smith decide to seek the aid of a marriage counselor. With each one heading off to their not-so-typical "office" every morning, then returning home in the evening to engage in the oh-so-typical custom of a sit down dinner, with conversations revolving around what color the new drapes should be, totally oblivious that each one is a highly skilled assassin working for rival organizations. After learning that John and Jane are married to one another, their employers secretly join forces to pit each hired gun against one another, setting them up as both hit man and target! Once their secret identities become uncovered, a serious bullet-fuelled showdown takes place within the couple's home. Guns blazing, knives flying, glass shattering, pure bombastic chaos erupts until every ounce of frustration is exhausted, leading to one hell of a make-up sex session! With the two reconciling and joining forces to take down the teams of operatives that have been dispersed upon them, John and Jane feel their odd marriage beginning to heal itself, as they seek revenge on their former employers.
Quirky, with an almost superhero feel, I had a blast with the action and thrills that mixed clever dialogue and situations to produce a fast paced and well executed presentation. You will definitely gain a new visual for Air Supply's "Making Love out of Nothing at All" tune after experiencing Brad Pitt's insanely cool sing along performance during a destructive car chase scene that will leave you laughing out loud. This is just one example of a host of totally hilarious moments wrapped up into one huge romp of a movie.
Twentieth Century Fox has produced a beautifully polished transfer of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for this DVD release. The presentation is free and clear of any compression issues or dust particles. Blacks are tremendously rich in depth providing great image detail, with the introduction of some truly vivid white balance levels during some scenes that present a rather neat look to the overall production. Color saturation is top notch, with flesh tones maintaining a natural appearance throughout. Once again, Twentieth Century Fox shows us that they are a true leader when it comes to impeccable film presentations on DVD.
Complementing the visual display is a seriously charged dts or Dolby Digital 5.1 option. Both tracks performed quite well in handling the rich bass levels and overall balance during their sonic exhibitions. Vocals remained quite natural in appearance, with every speaker channel fully utilized to the max throughout the entire presentation. Once again, kudos goes out to Twentieth Century Fox.
I was a little surprised at the smaller selection of special features available for this presentation, could a full-blown two-disc special edition be on the horizon? I wouldn't be too surprised, given this studios track record for doing so.
With not one, but three full-length audio commentaries available, the first featuring Director Doug Liman and Screenwriter Simon Kinberg, the second features Producers Akiva Goldsman and Lucas Foster, with the third commentary including participation from Editor Michael Tronick, Production Designer Jeff Mann and Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Elam. There is a very short "Making a Scene" featurette and three deleted scenes that should definitely not be missed. In my opinion; these scenes belong in the final film and not the typical unused footage wasteland also known as the deleted scenes section. You will also find a feature titled "Inside Look", which is accessible from the main menu and offers a short preview of the upcoming Michael Douglas film "The Sentinel".
From fully pumped-up action to comical situations that feature a great supporting performance from an always hilariously goofball Vince Vaughn, I can easily recommend "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for a total entertainment experience.
