Mr. & Mrs. Smith

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Married assassins thriller isn't for kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this film features repeated and sustained violent scenes, involving guns, explosions, and knives. It's also worth noting that these scenes most often set husband against wife. Following one of these extended shoot-outs, they engage in mostly off-screen sex (some close-ups of limbs and lips serve as prelude). Husband and wife lie to each other, appear in therapy sessions, discuss their lack of intimacy. Jane wears dominatrix gear and wields a crop, just before she snaps her target's neck. John pees in the desert (back to camera). Characters smoke, drink, drive fast, crash, and deploy major weapons.

  • Characters lie, drive fast, shoot, and use knives: they are assassins, after all.
  • Lots of shooting and exploding, less brutal than antic.
  • Sexual banter, dominatrix outfit, mild sex scene following violent exchange.

What's the story?

MR. AND MRS. SMITH centers on married super-assassins John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie), who have no idea of each other's occupation. Jane thinks John is the head of a construction firm, while John thinks his wife is in finance. Their marriage is in a bit of a rut until both of them are hired to kill the same man. Amidst all the action, they learn that they share a high-tech, low-affect appreciation for controlled mayhem, which makes them ideal mates after all -- which helps when they join forces for a final shoot-out against their mutual enemies: their heartless corporate employers.


Is it any good?

 

Thinly plotted, over-actionated, and frankly preposterous, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is entertaining and even clever if you take it on its own terms. These would be: the premise is nonsense and the resolution is absurd. In between, you see the gorgeous Pitt and Jolie wrestle, argue, leap, dash, and shoot big guns at each other. Yet the movie offers two surprises. First, Brad Pitt can dance. And not only in the sense that he turns a decent tango with Jolie in a flashback scene, but also, more enchantingly, in his performances with inanimate objects, a la Fred Astaire or even Buster Keaton. Pitt leaps through hedges, flies over furniture, juggles a teacup in one scene and a large weapon in another.

Genre-mixing is the film's second good idea. Equally cocky and apprehensive, John and Jane pretend to be happily married (she buys dreadful draperies, he doesn't notice she's added peas to the dinner menu) even as they live separate lives (they hide their weapons stashes in gendered spaces, hers behind the oven, his in the basement).


Explore, discuss, enjoy

Families can talk about the extreme (and darkly comic) representation of workaholic partners and marital stress. How does the movie use a romantic comedy's basic structure (sparring couple, parallel confidantes, zany situations reframed as violence) in order to comment on the high-stress pace of contemporary, two-career marriages? How might John and Jane have avoided tensions by not deceiving one another to start with? What is exciting about keeping secrets? Why is it better to tell the truth?


This review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith was written by
Kid, 10 years old
January 1, 2010
 
kids 7+
i saw this movie when i was 8!!!!!!!!it is a funny movie i love it
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Parent of 12 year old
June 12, 2009
 

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Adult
March 13, 2010
 
You don't have to like action to like this movie
I loved it. Action movies aren't really my thing, but this was funny.
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Teen, 13 years old
August 9, 2009
 
it is a good story but there is a lot of violence like shooting and explosions.
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Teen, 15 years old
August 29, 2009
 
Great for teens! Mild language and mild sexual content. Great action.
I love this movie. It is funny and action packed. The language is so mild. No uses of f*ck or g**d*mn. Just some mild words such as sh*t, h*ll, d*mn, and p*ss. And a few slang words. The sexual content is not that bad but may turn some away. A few references (non-graphic). and some passionate kissing. Angelina is seen in a bra and panties. She is also seen in some revealing outfits. Nothing graphic. The violence is very low. Just action packed. This movie was very fun and exciting to watch. I loved it.
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Parent of 15 year old
July 22, 2010
 
Good Action and Laughs, But...
MR. AND MRS. SMITH is a fun action movie that is decent popcorn entertainment. However, it presents nothing by way of genuine thrills, redeeming messages (in fact, quite the opposite, but more on that later), or intelligent acting or dialogue. A bit on the plot: Mr. Smith (Brad Pitt) and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie) have lived in a mediocre marriage for 6 years. They love each other, but they constantly bicker and keep things from each other. It turns out that each of them work for rival assassination agencies, and neither of them knows about the others' day job. Until they must target each other. Suddenly, six years of partnership are thrown to the wind as the two try to kill each other in creative means that include guns, knives, explosives, and rough hand-to-hand combat. The movie's messages are negative through and through. The movie skips over all positive parts of marriage (save one) and only portray the negative. Sacred unity between woman and man comes across as disposable and dull. The one aspect of marriage that it does portray (a lot of) is the sex aspect. Both Jolie and Pitt are very good-looking individuals, and the movie takes full advantage of their looks. When the do solve their feud, they engage in passionate sex (mostly offscreen, no nudity) and suddenly all of their problems are gone. The movie has a strong sense of vaguely sexualized violence pervading it. Jolie approaches one of her targets disguised as a hooker (with a revealing dominatrix suit), and puts him through a mostly-offscreen S&M routine before breaking his neck. Elsewhere, both Smiths are apparently sexually aroused while trying to kill each other. Countless people are killed, shot, stabbed, and run over in the movie (portrayed mostly bloodlessly through stunning special effects). Murder itself in the movie is portrayed in a cool, so-what manner that I found more than a little alarming. Most characters in the movie think of killing as a solution to all their problems, and mention of killing more than 200 people is the butt of a joke. Language is harsh but infrequent: one "f**k", a few "b**ch"s, and brief slang terms for both male and female genitals "d**k" and "p**sy". Don't get me wrong: this movie is fun entertainment for mature viewers. The action is really cool to watch, and the chemistry between Jolie and Pitt (even when clothed) is electrifying. Just don't show it to kids.
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Kid, 12 years old
October 1, 2009
 
Funny movie with some intense action senes. Not for kids, yet mature teens should be able to handle it reasonably well.
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Teen, 13 years old
September 29, 2009
 
for teens
Okay, yeah, so the movie is all about the spouses trying to kill each other. But I would have to say that it is a pretty cool, action packed, funny movie. But it is not the best role modeling, or message. After all they are trying to kill each other, and they are married!

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Teen, 14 years old
February 19, 2009
 
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Once again another bang bang shoot em up movie accompanied by a so-so plot. Seems interesting plot at first but didn't follow through. The constant explosions and killings get pretty repetitive.

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Teen, 16 years old
February 28, 2009
 
Good Movie!
A great movie, all though some people who left the comments below, said it was pointless its not, it a very enjoybale movie. A Five start stunner such a the Borne or Die Hard film, no not in any way, but it was enjoable and sexy.

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This review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith was written by
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:Doug Liman
Cast:Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn
Genre:Action/Adventure
Run time:112 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 10, 2005
DVD release date:November 29, 2005
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:sequences of violence, intense action, sexual content and brief strong language

This review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith was written by
 

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