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In early trade reviews for the couple's Mr. & Mrs. Smith – which opens June 10 – a grumbling Variety concedes, "Okay, this isn't Gigli," (a reference to the Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez bomb during the couple's courtship), while the Hollywood Reporter finds much to praise, calling the movie "a blast."
The Reporter compares the "well-sharpened banter" between Mr. & Mrs. Smith's two stars, who play married assassins unaware of the other's profession, to that found long ago in the movies of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Says the paper: "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – no matter what their off-camera status – make one swell combative couple."
In contrast, Variety notes that although chemistry does exist between the couple, "their movie-star wattage (provides) the only plausible excuse for paying attention to the shenanigans parading across the screen."
The Variety assessment adds that when Pitt and Jolie are "old, they might well think back on this moment as the time when they looked their best. But they certainly won't be able to consider it their best film."
Predicting that Mr. & Mrs. Smith will open to big ticket sales, Variety goes on to say that its box-office legs "don't look as long as those of the leading lady."
