听 Reports of a real-life romance between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had critics fearing another Gigli, but Mr & Mrs Smith was anything but. Doug Liman crafted this "hip slice of kiss-kiss bang-bang" about a couple whose marriage is slightly compromised by the fact they are rival contract killers. It was a hit with moviegoers too although we don't expect Jennifer Aniston was a big fan...
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Instead of the bog standard look at the making of the film, we're invited behind the scenes on the Making Of A Scene. It's the first face-off between Mr and Mrs that winds up with Brad Pitt driving into a hedge - a crucial moment for the relationship as both parties realise they've been duped. Liman explains that it was initially staged as a car chase, but the cost was ultimately too great. He admits, "Sometimes being constrained by your budget forces you to be more creative," so screenwriter Simon Kinberg got to work and came up with what is one of the most memorable scenes of the film. There's discussion of stunts, effects, and editing, but the actors get due credit as well, eg Pitt ad-libbed the part where he falls through the fence, which gave way after he tripped.
Liman and Kinberg expand on the issues of working within a modest budget and balancing relationship drama with high-octane action in a brilliant audio commentary. No doubt their relationship was, at times, a fractious one since Kinberg is quick to point out that Liman initially passed on his script and only changed his mind once Brad Pitt was attached. Naturally Liman has a slightly different take on the matter, explaining that the later draft appealed because the action had been "scaled back". His mantra remained, "Action is easy, marriage is hard," to keep the focus on the main characters.
Of course Liman avoids talking about the off-screen chemistry between Pitt and Jolie, but he does give producer Akiva Goldsman credit for charging the atmosphere. Apparently the Smith house was built with explosives embedded in the walls so, "all those domestic scenes took place in an environment where if somebody lit a cigarette, we could literally all have been blown up." Since Goldsman is an incorrigible smoker, the time he spent on set "added a little energy to the movie"... When it finally did come to wrecking the house, it was a welcome relief for the beleaguered director.
Marital Bonding
In fact Goldsman turns out to be very cheeky bloke indeed. In an alternative track with co-producer Lucas Foster he says of the leads, "They both committed very strongly to, you know, playing the relationship for real..." (Wink wink, nudge nudge etc.) But between the sly comments, this is actually a brass tacks commentary that highlights all the thorny development and budgetary issues.
Finally three deleted scenes include a funny - and we're guessing improvised - scene between John (Brad Pitt) and motor-mouthed misogynist Eddie (Vince Vaughn). In commiseration with John over his marriage break-up, Eddie advises him, "Don't think about it - yes, it's possible that she may have serviced an entire platoon of freedom fighters. And maybe she enjoyed it..."
Although there are no interviews with the stars and there is no behind-the-scenes footage, the filmmakers provide a very thoughtful, involving and, yes, even slightly risqu茅 analysis of the film. In the end, this is a commitment worth making.
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