Okay… let's get his all out in the open right away. No beating around the bush. No trying to write cute little double entendres. No waiting til the end of the review to bring this up. Here goes… ahem… "I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S PATOOT (just in case the kids are reading) ABOUT THE BRAD PITT - ANGELINA JOLIE - JENNIFER ANISTON TRIANGLE. I DIDN’T CARE ABOUT IT THEN, DON’T CARE ABOUT IT NOW. ANGELINA'S PREGNANT? WHO CARES??? Whew. There. I said it. Let it not be brought up again. So… "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." The movie that broke up Pitt and Aniston's marr… AAAARGH…. no. I will not do it. Let me try again. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," which came out last year starred Brangelin….

Uh, I mean Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as your everyday, average bored married couple. They have boring jobs, he is an architect, and she works with computers. Their evenings are pretty much standard. They come home… they eat dinner… they go out and kill people. That's right, the truth of the matter is that neither is who they seem to be. Both are contract killers, yet they are so good at keeping their identities a secret that after six years of marriage neither one of them knows the other one is an assassin. The fun begins when they are both given the same 'assignment' and the truth, such as it is, comes out.

Once this truth hits the 'you-know-what' hits the proverbial fan, and the otherwise boring couple begin a battle that makes "The War of the Roses" look like a light and loving comedy. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" becomes, at that point, an exercise in excess. Everything is painted in broad strokes, from the violence to the climactic car chase scenes. So what we have is an odd mixture of screwball comedy and action adventure. Throw in some extremely witty dialogue and you almost have an entertaining picture. Notice I say almost…..

I first saw the film when it arrived on DVD a few months ago, having avoided it in the theatre because of all the hype that I… won't… mention… again… here. It was actually a little more entertaining than I expected it to be, but was way too convoluted to be considered a thoroughly enjoyable film. The editing was choppy at best, and some of the plot just didn't make sense. It felt at times, like whole chunks were missing. Considering the fact that the movie is told in flash backs serves as a suitable explanation for some of the choppiness, but not all.

Director Doug Liman also seemed to notice the editing problems, so he went back and re-edited the film for fox so they could re-release it in a special Unrated Edition this week. The version on this new 2-disc set actually does seem a little bit more focused, though not completely. What is delivers is a slightly better version overall of the movie, but still doesn't necessarily turn it into a great movie. If you haven't seen the movie at all, this would be the version I would recommend.

Where the frustration as a DVD collector comes in however, is that they put some new extra features in this new release but did not carry over the features from the original release. Gone are the original release's three commentaries or the documentary feature. What they replaced them with is a whole new commentary by Liman, which actually is a really good one. He goes into a lot of detail as to the tweaks and changes he made, and why. And to be honest, he made some really good choices. On the 2nd disc, there are several deleted scenes, which include an alternate ending. (Actually two alternate endings, but one is in script form.) You'll also find a really funny Gag Reel and a different documentary feature than you had on the original release. Rounding the set out is a 'film school' featurette where Liman explains how several of the film's key scenes were shot, and in some cases cut out of the film.

As you can see, the extra features here are actually really good, but it's frustrating that Fox couldn’t transfer the others over. In essence, you really need to have (or keep) both DVD releases in order to have everything. So ultimately, it's really hard for me to tell you to get one disc or the other. If you’re not into special features, go ahead and get this new DVD release because it contains the better version of the film. If you are REALLY into watching every special feature for every movie in your collection, I suggest picking up both copies, but only… and I mean only… if you really like the movie.

Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Adam Brody, Vince Vaughn
Extras: Deleted Scene including Alternate Ending, Audio Commentary by Director Doug Liman, Doug's Film School Breakdowns, Secret Footage, Behind the Scenes Documentary, Photo Gallery
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 6/6/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Website

We'll give Mr & Mrs Smith: Unrated a C+.