Doug Liman is busy making waves, since his remake of Roadhouse has been sidetracked onto Prime Video, bypassing cinemas, disappointing audiences, and incurring the wrath of this journeyman director in the process. According to Liman, who helmed classics including The Bourne Identity, Jumper, and Edge of Tomorrow, Roadhouse tested higher than Mr & Mrs. Smith but will never see the inside of a movie theatre. That raises all sorts of questions when it comes to the necessity for a limited series based on the Brangelina action fest, which also happens to feature his now ex-wife trying to kill him.
Thankfully, Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Maya Erskine (Obi-Wan Kenobi) employ another angle of attack when it comes to embodying John and Jane Smith by stripping away any movie star facade and delivering some instinctively awkward lo-fi performances, borne from two strangers trying to connect for the first time. The downside of that inspired innovation is a wealth of pregnant pauses, uncomfortable interactions, and spirit crushing silences that threaten to steal away any momentum.
It is also fair to point out that this version of Mr & Mrs Smith is far from action packed, leaning as it does into extended dialogue scenes, and relying on Glover and Erskine to create some precious chemistry. Chemistry that feels shamelessly manufactured in retrospect, undermining any emotional connection for audiences, while the hurdle of a formulaic structure hinders things further, since everything hinges on them completing several high-risk missions.
In the main, these rarely run long enough and literally get in the way of audiences understanding, empathising, or connecting with John and Jane on anything other than a superficial level. This is the blessing and curse of Mr & Mrs Smith, since stripping away the high concept element and grounding this story with character actors and not movie stars, turns it into a melodrama with comedic moments and lots of introspection on what married life might mean as covert operatives.
An approach that brings feelings into it, gives these characters recognisable flaws, and still expects it to fly in the same way. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with either Donald Glover or Maya Erskine, or more importantly, how Mr & Mrs Smith plays out, but by deviating away from its predecessor something simply gets lost in translation. On top of that, some solid cameos from top tier character actors are either wasted or not afforded enough screen time to make an impact. Not only compounding the problems for an audience trying to invest, but also illustrating how good the original pairing of Brangelina and Doug Liman really were in making that material work.
Mr & Mrs Smith is available from 2 February on Prime Video.
