Mr. and Mrs. Smith

It's certainly not a recommended movie, but one has to begrudgingly admire Doug Liman for his skills as a director | Andrew Coffin

Mr. and Mrs. Smith received all the wrong kind of attention prior to its opening day—the type of unbalanced focus on the off-screen exploits of a film's stars that has proven deadly for films like the disastrous Gigli.

But Mr. and Mrs. Smith (rated PG-13 for violence, intense action, sexual content, and brief strong language) made over $50 million in its first weekend at the box office. Why? Director Doug Liman fully exploits the strengths of his stars in an efficient, stylishly directed action thriller. This doesn't make Mr. and Mrs. Smith a good (and certainly not a recommended) movie, but one has to begrudgingly admire Mr. Liman for his craft.

The sometimes clever, sometimes preposterous script has two top-class assassins unwittingly married to each other. John Smith (Brad Pitt) works for a grungy, hole-in-the-wall operation headed by Vince Vaughn, but claims to be a building contractor. Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) heads up an all-female team of killers housed in a high-tech skyscraper, but claims to be in real estate.