Mr. & Mrs. Smith Parent Guide

Movies often portray marriage in a bad light, but in this case, it’s literally murder—in three acts.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie provide copious amounts of eye candy in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a movie that shares its title with a 1941 release… and nothing more. In this 2005 version, the Smiths live a comfortable existence in suburbia, and after five or six years of marriage (neither can agree on how long it has really been), neither of them is aware of what the other truly does for a living.

End of Act One.

In Act Two, the inevitable revelation is brought forth during a very bad day at the office. Both operatives have been hired to take down the same man near the Mexican border. Instead, they start firing at one another. Ignoring the dangers of bringing their job home, the next half hour of the film shows the Smiths shooting and beating on each other while destroying their lovely house. Fortunately, common sense eventually prevails and pistols are traded for passion… and more eye candy.

Now that love has been reborn, everyone else wants the Smiths dead, making Act Three a parade of bullets and bombs. Hiding out in a huge hardware store while waiting to be attacked by a force of faceless warriors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith wonder if they will be forced to break-up and head to separate corners of the world in order to stay alive.

Certainly the much reported off-screen chemistry between Brad and Angelina is working in their favor. Obviously having a good time, even as the couple pounds on each other there’s still a glint of “only joking” in their eyes.

But parents may not be as jovial after examining the content in this PG-13 release. With violence literally wall-to-wall, when the pair isn’t kicking one another around the house, the screenplay provides a continuous onslaught of other murders. This action leaves little time for dialogue or plot development.

For those who claim the MPAA ratings haven’t grown more tolerant of increased violent content, Mr. and Mrs. Smith definitely qualifies as “Exhibit A.” The inclusion of a sexual expletive, discussions of sex, and portrayals of sexual activity, along with dozens of killings suggests the next death may be the trust families have for the motion picture rating system.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.