REVIEW: Mr and Mrs Smith has been revived and reimagined by Donald Glover; the action-romcom returns with a heavy focus on the romance. Does it beat the original?
The 2005 action-romcom Mr and Mrs Smith would be long-forgotten if it weren’t for the scandalous behaviour of its two leads, AngelinaJolie and Brad Pitt. The Hollywood A-listers’ on-set romance during filming fuelled both its box office success and the tabloid industry for a good few years when Pitt left his wife Jennifer Aniston for Jolie shortly after filming was completed.
The film itself is about a married couple who have fallen out of love and are living through the motions. They also don’t know the other is a spy. When their lives are put in mortal danger, their secret identities are exposed and their spark rekindles as they try to survive an onslaught of knife fights, bullet fire and big house-wrecking explosions.
But that’s not how it went down. Instead, it became an unlikely hit based on its explosions and the explosive chemistry between its two stars. And now it’s been anointed with the modern-day mark of success — a reboot.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie portray John and Jane Smith in the 2005 action-romcom Mr and Mrs Smith. Photo / Supplied
Fresh off the success and critical acclaim of his brilliant and stylistically unique dramedy Atlanta, Donald Glover takes a typically unpredictable swerve to both co-write and star in this modern take on the story, which begins streaming on Prime Video today.
His is not a 1:1 reboot. The most obvious change is the transition from popcorn-movie to a premium series. The second biggest change is the more interesting. Rather than being about the rekindling of a loveless marriage, the series instead asks if a marriage built on lies can spark real feelings.
The show opens with two strangers in separate job interviews at a mysterious, and faceless, spy agency. There’s the studious Jane, played by Maya Erskine, who didn’t make the cut to join the CIA, and John, played by Glover, an ex-military man who was dishonourably discharged — although, he’s quick to clarify that “there was nothing dishonourable about it”. The job is highly paid but also advertised as high-risk, and involves leaving their old lives behind. Both agree to the terms of the gig and are partnered up to begin their employment as Mr and Mrs Smith.
Even though a series allows the luxury of time, Glover kicks off their burgeoning romance almost immediately, with John flirting and constantly reminding Jane that they’re married. For her part, Jane indulges in some good old-fashioned awkward exchanges.
While it never felt forced, like Pitt and Jolie before them the pair have natural chemistry. The initial romance did drag and was plenty cloying playing out over endless banterish conversations between the pair. The dread of a long-running “will they, won’t they” plot was almost enough for me to pull the plug on the mission.
But each time I found myself searching for the remote I was pulled back in as John and Jane would set off on their spy adventures. Their missions delivered real intrigue and opportunities for humour whether following a target as she ran through an ordinary day or attempting to inject a wealthy landowner with truth serum at a high-class soiree. These missions are tense, humorous and occasionally violent. As you’d expect from Glover, they often stray into some incredibly bizarre territory.
An action-romcom is a notoriously tricky genre to pull off and Mr and Mrs Smith gets closer than most to pulling it off. You certainly can’t say Glover’s heart wasn’t in the right place. The series is stylish, cinematic and entertaining, with hooks waiting to snag you every time your attention starts to wander. But despite all that, it’s missing that indefinable spark that makes you fall in love.
