Tom Cruise's "Edge of Tomorrow" at 2013 Comic-Con International

ADDING MULTIMEDIA Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt Starrer “Edge of Tomorrow” Gets First Look at Comic-Con Footage from the Sci-Fi Thriller to Debut at San Diego Event 

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Edge of Tomorrow” has been announced as the title of the upcoming sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, directed by Doug Liman and based on the book All You Need is Kill. The movie, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, is set for release on June 6, 2014, and the first look at footage from the film will be unveiled by the Studio at this year’s International Comic-Con: San Diego on Saturday, July 20. The announcement was made today by Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Kroll stated, “We are extremely pleased to be able to give the Comic-Con audience, who’ve always been so supportive of us, the first peek at footage from ‘Edge of Tomorrow.’ The movie has all of us at the Studio very excited, and we can’t wait to see the reactions of fans who know and love the sci-fi genre so well.”

The epic action of “Edge of Tomorrow” unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world.

Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.

But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

The international cast of “Edge of Tomorrow” also includes Bill Paxton (“Aliens,” HBO’s “Big Love”), Kick Gurry (Australian TV’s “Tangle”), Dragomir Mrsic (“Snabba Cash II”), Charlotte Riley (“World Without End”), Jonas Armstrong (BBC TV’s “Robin Hood”), and Franz Drameh (“Attack the Block”).

Liman directs the film from a screenplay by Dante W. Harper and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Christopher McQuarrie, based on the acclaimed novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Erwin Stoff produces, along with Tom Lassally, Jason Hoffs, Gregory Jacobs and Jeffrey Silver. The executive producers are Doug Liman, Dave Bartis, Joby Harold, Hidemi Fukuhara, and Bruce Berman, with Kim Winther and Tim Lewis serving as co-producers.

The behind-the-scenes team includes Academy Award®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe (“Memoirs of a Geisha”), production designer Oliver Scholl (“Jumper,” “Independence Day”), editor James Herbert (“Sherlock Holmes,” “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”), costume designer Kate Hawley (“Pacific Rim”), and Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis (“The Dark Knight”).

“Edge of Tomorrow” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures. Opening domestically on June 6, 2014, the film will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow.

New Tom Cruise and "300" Sequel Change Release Dates

Warner Bros. Pictures Announces Date Changes for Two Much-Anticipated Event Films

“All You Need is Kill” Moves to the Coveted Summer Frame -- the Sci-Fi Actioner Will Open on June 6, 2014

“300: Rise of an Empire” Shifts to March 7, 2014, Following the Same Release Pattern of the Original Blockbuster, “300”

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures has announced a change of release dates for two of its most-anticipated event films: “All You Need is Kill,” from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, and “300: Rise of an Empire,” from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

“All You Need is Kill” has been moved to the Summer release corridor, opening on June 6, 2014, with select international markets predating the domestic release, starting the weekend of May 30, 2014. The earlier international release date was specifically chosen to put the opening two weeks ahead of the start of the World Cup. The move reflects the studio’s already strong belief in the huge science fiction actioner, which marks the first collaboration between two proven hit-makers, Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman.

The release date of “300: Rise of an Empire,” a new chapter in the epic “300” saga, has moved to March 7, 2014, with international territories opening day-and-date, reflecting the global popularity of the franchise. The first “300,” which was released in March 2007, went on to earn more than $456 million worldwide.

Fellman stated, “We have tremendous confidence in ‘All You Need is Kill’ and view it as a perfect tent pole for the Summer frame, with its combination of great cast, compelling story and tremendous action.”

Fellman also noted, “Moving ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ to March 7 continues in the tradition of the first ‘300,’ and kicks off the Spring movie-going season in epic style. The film is on track to become all that audiences have come to expect from the franchise.”

Kwan Vandenberg said, “We are thrilled about ‘All You Need is Kill’ heating up our Summer `14 slate. It is an action-packed adventure, told by an extraordinary cast, which is sure to have global appeal.

“We are also excited about the continuation of the ‘300’ saga,” Kwan Vandenberg added. “The first ‘300’ movie was a huge success internationally, and the day-and-date release of the new film is a great opportunity to turn its opening into a worldwide event.”


About “300: Rise of an Empire”:
Told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster “300,” this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield—on the sea—as Greek general Themistokles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. “300: Rise of an Empire” pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present, a Cruel and Unusual Films/Mark Canton/Gianni Nunnari Production, “300: Rise of an Empire.” The action adventure stars Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles and Eva Green as Artemisia. Lena Headey reprises her starring role from “300” as the Spartan Queen, Gorgo; Hans Matheson stars as Aeskylos; David Wenham returns as Dilios; and Rodrigo Santoro stars again as the Persian King, Xerxes.

The film is directed by Noam Murro, from a screenplay by Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad, based on the graphic novel Xerxes, by Frank Miller. It is produced by Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Bernie Goldmann. Thomas Tull, Frank Miller, Stephen Jones and Jon Jashni serve as executive producers.

Opening in 3D and 2D in select theatres and IMAX on March 7, 2014, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

About “All You Need is Kill”:
Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in “All You Need is Kill,” directed by Doug Liman.

The story unfolds in a near future in which a hive-like alien race, called Mimics, have hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, shredding great cities to rubble and leaving millions of human casualties in their wake. No army in the world can match the speed, brutality or seeming prescience of the weaponized Mimic fighters or their telepathic Alpha commanders. But now the world’s armies have joined forces for a last stand offensive against the alien horde, with no second chances.

The international cast also includes Bill Paxton, Kick Gurry, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Jonas Armstrong and Franz Drameh.

Liman directed the film from a screenplay by Dante W. Harper and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Christopher McQuarrie, based on the acclaimed novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Erwin Stoff, Tom Lassally, Jason Hoffs, Gregory S. Jacobs and Jeffrey Silver are the producers. The executive producers are Doug Liman, Dave Bartis, Joby Harold, Hidemi Fukuhara and Bruce Berman, with Kim Winther and Tim Lewis serving as co-producers.

“All You Need is Kill” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures. Opening domestically on June 6, 2014, the film will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow.

Doug Liman/Tom Cruise Sci-Fi Film Due March 2014

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt to Invade Theatres in a New Sci-Fi Thriller on March 14, 2014

From Director Doug Liman, the Film is Based on the Book All You Need is Kill

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The upcoming epic sci-fi thriller, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt and based on the book All You Need is Kill, will open on March 14, 2014, from Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Being directed by Doug Liman, the film is the first motion picture to be shot at the recently christened Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, and begins principal photography today, Monday, October 1.

The story unfolds in a near future in which a hive-like alien race, called Mimics, have hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, shredding great cities to rubble and leaving millions of human casualties in their wake. No army in the world can match the speed, brutality or seeming prescience of the weaponized Mimic fighters or their telepathic commanders. But now the world’s armies have joined forces for a last stand offensive against the alien horde, with no second chances.

Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and then dropped—untrained and ill-equipped—into what amounts to little more than a suicide mission. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an Alpha down with him. But, impossibly, he awakens back at the beginning of the same hellish day, and is forced to fight and die again…and again. Direct physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop—dooming him to live out the same brutal combat over and over.

But with each pass, Cage becomes tougher, smarter, and able to engage the Mimics with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt), who has lain waste to more Mimics than anyone on Earth. As Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated battle becomes an opportunity to find the key to annihilating the alien invaders and saving the Earth.

Oscar® nominee Cruise (the “Mission: Impossible” films, “Collateral,” “Jerry Maguire”) and Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Adjustment Bureau”) lead an international cast that also includes Bill Paxton (“Aliens,” HBO’s “Big Love”), Jonas Armstrong (BBC TV’s “Robin Hood”), Tony Way (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), Kick Gurry (Australian TV’s “Tangle”), Franz Drameh (“Attack the Block”), Dragomir Mrsic (“Snabba Cash II”), and Charlotte Riley (“World Without End”).

Liman (“The Bourne Identity,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) is directing the film from a screenplay by Dante Harper, Christopher McQuarrie and Joby Harold, based on the acclaimed novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Erwin Stoff (“The Blind Side,” “I Am Legend”), Gregory Jacobs (“Contagion”) and Jeffrey Silver (“300”) are the producers. The executive producers are Jason Hoffs, Joby Harold, Doug Liman, Dave Bartis, Tom Lassally, Hidemi Fukuhara, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia and Bruce Berman, with Tim Lewis and Kim Winther serving as co-producers. (Credits are not final.)

The behind-the-scenes team includes Academy Award®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe (“Memoirs of a Geisha”), production designer Oliver Scholl (“Jumper,” “Independence Day”), editor James Herbert (“Sherlock Holmes,” “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”), costume designer Kate Hawley (upcoming “Pacific Rim”), and Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis (“The Dark Knight”).

The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Review: "Fair Game" Got Game... Sorta

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fair Game (2010)
Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some language
DIRECTOR: Doug Liman
WRITERS: Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (based on the books The Politics of Truth by Joseph Wilson and Fair Game by Valerie Plame)
PRODUCERS: William Pohlad, Janet Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jez Butterworth, Akiva Goldsman, and Doug Liman
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Doug Liman (D.o.P.) and Robert Baumgartner
EDITOR: Christopher Tellefsen

DRAMA with elements of a thriller

Starring: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Ashley Gerasimovich, Quinn Broggy, David Andrews, Adam LeFevre, Bruce McGill, Ty Burrell, and Sam Shepard

Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson are real people. About four months after the beginning of the Iraq War, Wilson wrote an op-ed piece for The New York Times entitled, “What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” which disputed claims President George W. Bush made during the run up to the invasion of Iraq.

In retaliation, operatives within the Bush administration leaked sensitive information to Bush-friendly press toadies. This sensitive information was the disclosure of Valerie Plame’s identity as a United States CIA Operations Officer. This revelation and the subsequent scandal the revelation caused came to be known as “Plamegate” or “the Valerie Plame Affair.” Eventually, the Wilsons would detail their ordeal and experiences in two books, Valerie Plame’s Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House and Joseph Wilson’s The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir.

The 2010 film, Fair Game, directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity), is a fictional account of the “Plame affair.” The film’s screenplay is based on both Wilson and Plame’s books.

As the movie begins, Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) travels around the world for the CIA, pursing nuclear nonproliferation – stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and the material and technology used to make them. Soon, her work gets caught up in the White House’s need to prove that President of Iraq Sadam Hussein is pursuing the creation of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). After the United States leads an invasion of Iraq, Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), writes an op-ed column for the New York Times, in which he accuses the administration of President George W. Bush of misleading the public to justify invading Iraq. In retaliation, figures inside the administration leak Plame’s status as an agency operative for the CIA. Now, not only is Plame’s career in jeopardy, but also the safety of her family and her marriage to Wilson.

Fair Game seems to want to be either a human drama or a political suspense thriller or both. It is muddled, sometimes being a character drama inside a political thriller and other times being a thriller inside drama. It also has elements of a war movie and of a political melodrama. The narrative struggles to balance a desire to be a fact-based biopic (because this film is about real people and is based on very recent events) and the need to be a taut political thriller, because of box office considerations. Fair Game ends up being all over the place.

This movie is not bad. Actually, some of it is good (Naomi Watts), and some of it is average (Sean Penn’s performance) to a little above average (the last half hour of the movie). Fair Game is not standout material, and if the “Plame affair” is going to be a movie, then that movie needs to be standout – in my (not really) humble opinion. Fair Game is ordinary rather than prominent, but it has its moments.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, April 10, 2011

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Review: Go Have Fun with Pulp Fiction-Inspired "Go" (Happy B'day, Sarah Polley)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Go (1999)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong drug content, sexuality, language and some violence
DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER: Doug Liman
WRITER: John August
PRODUCERS: Matt Freeman Mickey Liddell, and Paul Rosenberg
EDITOR: Stephen Mirrione
COMPOSER: BT and Moby

COMEDY/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Sarah Polley, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, Desmond Askew, Timothy Olyphant, William Fichtner, Breckin Meyer, and Taye Diggs

Some have compared it to Pulp Fiction, and Go, a film from Doug Liman (Swingers), certainly bears some similarities to Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film. Go is alternately a dark, teen comedy, a delirious action movie, a snarky crime caper, and a candy coated Tarantino movie for the late teen/early 20’s set.

On first glance, Go seems to tell the story of the events that happen after a drug deal. The real launching point is simply the changing of work shifts between two young working stiffs at a small grocery store. From there, Go is three interconnected short movies, in which many of the characters from each short movie encounter one another. In that sense, it is similar to Pulp Fiction, but only stylistically and superficially.

In one story, Ronna Martin (Sarah Polley) tries to raise rent money by selling ecstasy to two men (Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf) looking to buy from her co-worker, Simon Baines (Desmond Askew), who normally deals drugs. When Ronna is forced to ditch the drugs, she has to scam Simon’s supplier, a nasty little thug named, Todd (Timothy Olyphant), to whom she now owes some drug money.

Meanwhile, in the second story, Simon tears through Las Vegas with four buds. Simon and one of his pals, Marcus (Taye Diggs), find themselves in an awful mess at a strip club and on the fun from the owners.

In the third story, Adam (Wolf) and Zack (Mohr) find themselves in a predicament over drugs with the police. Their situation becomes more precarious when an undercover officer shows special interests in the two buddies, and the drama doesn’t let up when the two later become involved in a hit and run.

Go is a comedy, although there are times when it seems too dangerous to be funny, but even those tense moments unravel and reveal themselves to be uproarious situations. John August’s script is filled with over the top moments that make sense in a strange way instead of simply being over the top or just too much. It’s outlandish and absurd, but stunningly well put together. The movie plays at being very violent, but it’s mostly cartoonish, as if the film won’t quite acknowledge how painful violence can be. Or maybe, this is just part of the hedonistic life the film portrays. It’s all done in fun, and at the end of the day, all the players get to walk away from their various little “car wrecks,” though maybe an occasional fatal mistake would teach them all a lesson. Well, maybe not. They’d be slacking, doing drugs, and playing with guns the very day after burying a homie who shot himself playing with a gun or overdosing on ecstasy.

I give Liman much credit for directed this very funny film. It’s slick and glossy, but incredibly well executed. On the surface, it might seem like a rave culture version of Pulp Fiction, though it does owe more than a nodding acknowledgement to that film. However, it’s a modern, violent physical comedy where each actor and filmmaker has to hit his marks. Liman plays with incredible timing, and most of the time he gets it right. One misstep, and the film falls apart. Luckily, the film doesn’t begin to shake to pieces until the very end, but up until the closing scenes, Go is near flawless and near perfect. I’ve rarely laughed so hard at something so obviously meant to be eye candy. But Liman’s film is gourmet candy, thoughtfully concocted by a director determined to give his audience a good show. Most Tarantino clones were content simply to copy, whereas Liman and screenwriter John August were determined to give us a lurid taste of pulp fiction made from their own very best recipe.

7 of 10
B+

Review: "The Bourne Identity" is Classic Secret Agent

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 112 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Bourne Identity (2002)
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence and some language
DIRECTOR: Doug Liman
WRITERS: Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron (from the novel by Robert Ludlum)
PRODUCERS: Doug Liman, Patrick Crowley, and Richard N. Gladstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Oliver Wood
EDITOR: Saar Klein

ACTION/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Julia Stiles

There really aren’t any bad Matt Damon movies, just bad movies in which Matt Damon is an actor or a star. He has boyishly good looks, but there’s also something in his character that suggests a solid stand up guy upon which one can rely – probably the two big things needed to make a great male star of the screen. Doug Liman is a rising star as a director. I haven’t seen his film Swingers, but I did see his rave scene version of Pulp Fiction, Go, which is an utterly fantastic fun ride of good music and loopy violence. If you put Damon and Liman together and give them a Robert Ludlum novel to make into a film, you might get the fantastic thriller, The Bourne Identity.

A French fishing vessel finds a man (Matt Damon) floating in the middle of the stormy Mediterranean Sea, whom the crew promptly rescues. He has two bullets in his back, and when he awakes, he doesn’t remember his name. Documents reveal his identity as Jason Bourne, but Jason doesn’t remember any special significance attached to his alleged name. As he follows the few clues he has in hopes of recovering from his amnesia, he must escape a web of international intrigue and a cadre of assassins bent of killing him.

I think a lot of people were surprised that this film became a fairly big hit, and many more were surprised that it was actually so good. The key players in this film are, of course, Damon and Liman. Damon’s Bourne is for all practical purposes, almost the only important character in the film. The rest of the characters are decent, but there is nothing to them beyond their role in a paper-thin shadowy conspiracy. The presence of veteran characters like Chris Cooper and Brian Cox are delightful, but I assume that their characters would have been richer characters if Ludlum’s novel from which this is film is adapted had been made into a television mini-series. A slight supporting cast could have been a liability, but Liman has this deft touch of making his film move briskly and with such vibrancy and life. The viewer hardly has time to focus his attention on story holes. Like a good book, you can’t walk away from The Bourne Identity. You don’t want to walk away, and there are many times when the only reason I finish a boring movie is because I think that I might as well finish what I started.

In Damon, Liman has star with screen presence, and he takes full advantage of it. Although we know only a little more about Bourne that the character himself, as the camera follows Damon, the actor makes us interested in Bourne. With so many run-of-the-mill action flicks, it’s good to see the occasional action/thriller (a genre primarily aimed at older audiences) like Ronin or The Negotiator that engages the thinking and the feeling. The Bourne Identity is a bravura performance by a director and his star that’s worth seeing. It’s a moment in film history when two people come together with utter determination to take what is meant to be slight entertainment and make it into something that goes to the top of the heap. It’ll leave you wanting more.

8 of 10
A

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Review: Pitt, Jolie Blaze in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 94 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Running time: 115 minutes
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence, intense action, sexual content, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: Doug Liman
WRITER: Simon Kinberg
PRODUCER: Lucas Foster, Akiva Goldsman, Eric McLeod, Arnon Milchan, and Peter Wachsberger
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bojan Bazelli
EDITOR: Michael Tronick

ACTION/COMEDY/ROMANCE with elements of a thriller

Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Kerry Washington, Adam Brody Chris Weitz, Rachael Huntley, Michelle Monaghan, and Keith David

The entertainment wing of the news media has been abuzz about the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie flick, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, directed by Doug Liman, for months now because many believe that the film shoot was where Pitt’s marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston (TV’s “Friends”) fell apart and his are-they/aren’t they relationship with Ms. Jolie began. For a while, it seemed as if the tawdry adultery angle would drown the film, but early favorable reviews kept any alleged hanky-panky from completely overshadowing the film. While Mr. & Mrs. Smith is an unusual mixture of several genres, it is a sassy, faux-witty, action flick with one great car chase scene and a lot of good chemistry between the stars, and I’m certainly glad I paid to see it in a theatre. Ignore the flimsy plot and the empty characters, which aren’t much more than plot props and targets for action violence. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a star vehicle that you see if you like the stars.

Married for five or six years (that’s a joke in the film), John Smith (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) are bored with their quiet, domestic tranquility. The biggest secret that they’re keeping from each other is that they are both assassins for different espionage organizations and are globetrotting and killing for hire behind each other’s back. The couple’s separate lives collide when they bumble upon the same assassination assignment. That causes the spouses to end up as each other’s next hit, but when they chose reconciliation instead of mutually assured destruction, both of their former agencies come gunning for them.

While not as entertaining as Liman’s film Go! (1999) and certainly not on the level of the super-smart, super thriller, The Bourne Identity (2002), Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a unique hybrid. It’s an action comedy, but it also an action romance. It’s an action thriller, but it’s also a romantic, action thriller. Pitt and Ms. Jolie have fine screen chemistry, so the romance is works; some of the comedy comes from their chemistry and timing, but much of it also comes from the cartoonish violence of the shoot-em-up’s and gunplay and the explosions in the film that more often than not are done for comic effect. There is one great car chase in the film and a death match between John and Jane that give the film all the thrills it needs. However, the final battle between the Smith’s and a seemingly endless supply of special operations squads is a bit flat.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are lucky that Liman and writer Simon Kinberg, whose screenplay is a frothy and tasty confection, deliver summer cinematic fun, or the superstar movie duo would have suffered the same meltdown that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez experienced with their “romantically entangled” film, Gigili. Hardcore action junkies may not go for this film, but anyone who likes a different spin on big, loud action films will probably like this.

6 of 10
B

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