Genre Action

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Item: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Rating: 3.5
Author: Ross McLaren

★★★½ — Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

By the mid-2000s, the action-comedy had become something of a production-line genre, reliable at the box office but rarely producing anything worth talking about a week after you'd seen it. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) arrived with enough star power and conceptual neatness to cut through the noise. The premise is simple and rather brilliant for it: a husband and wife, locked in the familiar rut of a stalled marriage, each discover the other has been leading an entirely secret life as a professional assassin, and that their latest assignment is to eliminate one another. It is the kind of high-concept pitch that fits on a postcard, and the film never pretends otherwise. Produced by Regency Enterprises and New Regency Pictures and released through Summit Entertainment, the film runs at a brisk two hours and was co-produced in part out of Switzerland, though its heart and its geography are entirely American suburban.

The director is Doug Liman, whose career at that point had already shown a fondness for genre work with a slightly rougher texture than the Hollywood norm. His later work, including Jumper (2008), would confirm him as a director comfortable handling action on a large canvas, though not always one whose films hold together under scrutiny. Here, with a cast willing to commit to both the comedy and the violence, he was working with considerably better material. Brad Pitt had by 2005 accumulated a varied filmography stretching from quirky ensemble work (see the site's take on Burn After Reading (2008), another film in which he plays with audience expectations of his screen persona) to more straightforward dramatic fare like Babel (2006), where he demonstrated a quieter, more restrained register entirely. Here he is squarely in crowd-pleasing mode, and it suits him. His co-star Angelina Jolie was, at the time, as famous for her off-screen presence as for her roles, and the real-world romantic fallout from this production became tabloid mythology. Whatever the circumstances, what appears on screen between the two of them is difficult to manufacture artificially. The supporting cast includes Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, and Kerry Washington, each providing useful texture around the edges of the central pairing without distracting from it.

The film arrived with considerable commercial expectations and a certain amount of knowing publicity around its leads. Whether it lived up to either is a question worth sitting with rather than assuming.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) is a slick, stylish action-comedy that works because it leans into its central gimmick with confidence: what if your spouse wasn’t just hiding their job… but also a gun? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sizzle with chemistry as a married couple who discover they’re both secretly assassins hired to kill each other. The premise is pure Hollywood fantasy, but Doug Liman directs it with a grounded edge, less cartoonish than you’d expect, more about the tension in a relationship gone lethally toxic. The action is top-notch: inventive, well-choreographed, and packed with dark humour. The infamous kitchen fight (where pots, pans, knives, and dishwashers become weapons) is a standout, blending intimacy and violence in a way only this film could. And the car chase through suburban streets is fast, chaotic, and thrilling without relying on CGI overload. It’s one of those rare films where the spectacle actually serves the story, every explosion feels like a metaphor for marital breakdown. Pitt and Jolie have undeniable heat and their performances are playful, sharp, and just serious enough to sell the absurdity. Sure, the plot thins out by the third act, and the satire of marriage-as-war gets repetitive. But as a high-concept popcorn flick it delivers. Smartly dumb, beautifully shot, and way more fun than it has any right to be. Not a classic, but a defining 2000s action-romance. Explosions, therapy, and machine guns.

That "smartly dumb" quality is, for me, what keeps it rewatchable in a way that a lot of its contemporaries simply aren't. Films from that mid-2000s action-comedy moment often feel dated in ways that are difficult to pinpoint precisely, a certain flatness in the humour, a reliance on spectacle that hasn't aged well. This one manages to sidestep most of that, largely because the central conceit gives every set piece an emotional anchor, however absurd it becomes. The kitchen fight in particular stays with you not because of the choreography (though that is genuinely well done) but because it feels oddly true to something about how couples argue, all that stored-up domestic familiarity turned outward into chaos. It's a film that knew exactly what it was and had the good sense not to overreach. Sometimes that's enough.

Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2005 | Watched: 2025-10-10

View on Letterboxd →

Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Google Play Movies · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Google Play Movies · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Read more

Verena (2026)

Mad God (2021)

Saltburn (2023)

It Was Just an Accident (2025)

The films worth your time, once a week.