Parents' Guide to

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Married assassins thriller isn't for kids.

Movie PG-13 2005 112 minutes
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 10 parent reviews

Tsion
Tsion Parent of 14-year-old
July 22, 2010
age 15+

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.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
2 people found this helpful.
kael D.
kael D. Parent of 13-year-old
December 20, 2022
age 11+

sooooooo good, hi mom, i know u saw my review.

damn, good movie!!!!

This title has:

Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
See all 10 parent reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say (10):
Kids say (28):

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).

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • 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?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: June 10, 2005
  • On DVD or streaming: November 29, 2005
  • Cast: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn
  • Director: Doug Liman
  • Inclusion Information: Middle Eastern/North African actors
  • Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • Run time: 112 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: sequences of violence, intense action, sexual content and brief strong language
  • Last updated: April 4, 2023

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