The pairing of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in an action-cum-comedy film was never going to offer any intelligent interplay, nor would it likely offer anything suprisingly new or innovative. Indeed it doesn’t, though it does try to get away with this sad reality by offering some wafer thin ideas which the producers constitute as a plot.

Had the film been French, perhaps, it may have been pulled off with a bit of energy, more chemistry and certainly more interest. American films just don’t do clever action like the rest of the world, and what attempts to provide some much need innovation turns out to be a tiresome example of the marketing being greater than the product.

Jolie and Pitt play spies for rival companies. The twist is that neither knows about it, and each offers a web of lies to cover this reality up. There marriage is suffering after 6 years, which culminates in both discovering each other’s real jobs once they are assgined the same hit. This propels their heads of department to issues either the elimination of the other in 48 hours, or they will both be up for elimination.

With neither trusting each other, they attempt to kill each other, only to envetually find out they were framed as two rival agents being married just doesn’t look good for their clients. So, as the formulaic inevitable continues, they team up to take out those trying to take them out. It’s as predictable as going to work in the morning. Same shit, different day. So it is with Mr & Mrs Smith. Same formula, different actors. Brainless, dead, action film offering sexy stars as the only example of romanticism or energy.

It doesn’t work, mainly because neither seems wholly convincing together. Pitt still the man of many a woman, is only just less stiff in his acting ability than Keanu Reeves and that plank of wood that works as a co-star. Jolie is still the lady of choice for many guys out there, and is also equally unconvincing in her role as a wife or someone with a secret. As a Hollywood couple, I’m sure they look great together on the front of a magazine, but they certainly don’t gel well in a film.

The action scenes are plentiful, the jokes fall flat, and the romance is worse than that of True Lies. Yes, I said worse. You would probably find a lion and a tamer in a cage a lot more convincing, but I guess we’re meant to swallow this because it’s two A-list “actors” working together.

By comparison, think of War of the Roses when Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas were still doing decent entertainment. An enjoyable film that really pushed the limits of a couple hating each other. Much of that is attempted here, but you wish they’d give up and get on with the action, because that’s where any ounce of entertainment lies. Even then, it’s pretty awful at times, with slow-mo poses that look simply riduclous and wouldn’t look too out of place in a pop video.

There’s a comedic sentiment when the couple visit a shrink to deal with their marriage problems. Again this is painful to watch, almost like having someone drill a hole through your fingers with a Black & Decker power drill. It’s so painful you can’t scream.

This was a very clever piece of marketing, it made a lot of money, but it continues to prove that both still have some way to go before they can be considered credible. Of course this all comes down to the choice of film they make, and certainly makes them easy money. I suppose making a good film comes second to the dollars.

In any case, there’s worse out there, but there’s certainly a lot better. Don’t be fooled into thinking that having to well known stars in a film with plot written on the back of matchbox is going to offer much value for money. Tragic cinema, and Hollywood continues to run dry of talent, ideas and quality.

Verdict: Slick, glossy, but where’s the film?