July 17, 2025 • 40 mins
When we think of movies with Hollywood defining legacies, Mr. & Mrs. Smith wouldn't be the first that springs to mind.
A fun, comedic mid-2000s action flick, capitalising on the chemistry of its two stunningly beautiful leads; it became the movie that defined a generation of celebrity culture, and sold hundreds of thousands of gossip magazines.
But it all could have been very different, had it not been for The Stepford Wives.
The film's inception, a chaotic filming schedule that resulted in significant budget overruns, and a constantly changing script pale in comparison to the media circus that followed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, affectionately given the portmanteau 'Brangelina', and how their relationship flourished as they played married assassins; oblivious to each other's secret lives until they’re pitted against one another to finish their respective jobs. Not to mention his previous marriage failing at about the same time they were filming this movie - surely it's all a coincidence?
Their journey from co-stars to Hollywood power couple to eventually married and sharing six children would not lead to their happily ever after, unlike John and Jane Smith.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) !
Verbal Diorama is now an award-winning podcast! Best Movie Podcast in the inaugural Ear Worthy Independent Podcast Awards and was nominated for the Earworm Award at the 2025 Golden Lobes.
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Episode Transcript
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(02:12):
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal diorama, episode
366, Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Thisis the podcast that's all about the
history and legacy of movies,you knknow,ow andmoviesyoudon't.And
baby, you couldn't find thebutton with both hands and a mamap,pandain'tthat
the truth. Welcome to VerbalDiorama. Whether you're a brandbrand-newnewlistener,whetheryou'rearegularreturninglistener,thank
(02:35):
you so much for being here.Thank you so much for choosing to
listen to this podcast. I amso happy to have you here just generally,
but also for the history andlegacy of Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Thank
you so much to everyone who iscoming back who listens to this podcast
and has continued to listenand support this podcast over the
(02:55):
last five, six. Five or sixyears. And I don't keep exact count,
but I'd say high 50s, low 60s.I mean, I know I've been around the
block and all, but 306episodes? Some were indeed two at
a time. Thank you for yoursupport. It genuinely means so much.
And yes, I have been waitingto use those quotes in this episode.
(03:17):
And honestly, I'm so. I'm sopleased with myself right now. It's
not quite the exact quote inthe movie, but when he says five,
she says six, and he says fiveor six. I was like, that just like,
works so well. Anyway, I'mdelighted to have you here. Thank
you for listening. Thank youfor your continued support. It really
does mean the world. And this,again, is an episode that has been
(03:39):
a long time coming to thispodcast. I cannot tell you how long
Mr. And Mrs. Smith has been onthe roster. Well, actually, I can
in fact tell you because Iwatched this movie back in 2021,
and I know this because Irecord it on my letterboxd and I
looked at the review that Iput on my Letterboxd in 2021, and
(04:02):
in 2021, it says somethingalong the lines of, and I'm paraphrasing
here, should do this on thepodcast soon. And that was 2021.
So four years later, it'sfinally on the podcast. But this
has just been one of thosemovies that's just continually being
pushed infafavourvorofotherstuff.AndI thought,
you know what? Finally, let'sget down to Mr. And Mrs. Smith, because
(04:25):
this movie is fun, but it'sgot problems. And we're going to
talk about it. The lastepisode was on Tombstone. My very
first western, would youbelieve? And I absolutely loved working
on Tombstone. Some movies arejust perfect examples of why this
podcast even exists. Tocelebrate everything about movie
(04:46):
making, but also how difficultit can be in Hollywood to get stuff
made. The fact it exists atall, with all its various troubles,
is miraculous, but also thefact that someone was trying to sabotage
it. And that sabotage onlyseemed to strengthen it. It's just
such a brilliant, interestingstory, and I'm so happy to have done
(05:07):
that episode on Tombstone.ObvioObviously,uslymovingthisweektoMr. AndMrs.Smith,thisproduction
had a whole different set ofproblems. The Hollywood celebrity
rumour mill in the 2000s wasunfiltered. It was bold and it was
brash. Everyone was datingeveryone else. Everyone was either
too fat or too thin. Therewere pregnancy rumours galore. Even
(05:29):
though everyone knows youdon't assume things like this. And
one of the most beautifulcouples of the early 2000s was Brad
Pitt and his stunning wife,Jennifer Aniston. Apart, they were
two of the most glamorous,beautiful and successful people in
the world. Together, they werea phenomenon never before matched
(05:50):
up. That changed when BradPitt filmed his new action spy comedy
movie. Here's the trailer forMr. And Mrs. Smith.
(07:50):
John and Jane Smith are aseemingly ordinary suburban married
couple who have grown boredand distant in their relationship.
Unbeknownst to each other,they are both highly skilled assassins
working for competingagencies. When they are independently
assigned to eliminate the sametarget, their secret identities are
exposed and they discover thattheir next mission is to kill each
(08:12):
other. What follows is anescalating battle of wits and weaponry
as the married assassins usetheir professional skills against
one another, ultimatelyforcing them to confront both their
crumbling marriage and theirdeadly careers, while trying to survive
their employer's attempts toeliminate them both. Let's run through
the cast of this movie. We allknow who's in this movie, but we're
(08:34):
gonna have to talk about it.We have Brad Pitt as John Smith,
Angelina Jolie as Jane Smith,Vince Vaughan as Eddie, Adam Brody
as Benjamin the Tank Dans,Kerry Washington as Jasmine, Keith
David as Father, Chris Whiteas Martin Coleman, Michelle Monaghan
(08:56):
as Gwen, and Angela Bassett,uncredited, as Atlanta. Mr. And Mrs.
Smith was written by SimonKinberg and was directed by Doug
Liman. It's safe to say thatscreenwriter Simon Kinberg has had
somewhat of a meteoric rise inHollywood. Graduating from the Columbia
University School of the Artsin 2003, he'd already sold pitches
(09:18):
to major studios while stillin film school, including Ghouls
of New York. In his firstyear, which sold for six figures,
Ghouls of New York connectedKinberg to the industry, and his
thesis project would becomethe script for Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
which he sold to SummitEntertainment for six figures in
2000 and wrote an initialtreatment in January 2001. Bear in
(09:41):
mind, he didn't graduate fromColumbia till 2003. Kinberg has worked
on some of the biggest moviesof the 2000s as a writer, producer,
and sometimes both. He gotinvolved in Fox's X Men prequel series
in the early 2000 and tens,writing and producing Days of Future,
Past and Apocalypse, andwriting, producing and directing
(10:02):
Dark Phoenix. He also producedthe Martian, Cinderella, Deadpool,
Logan, and Most recently EdgarWright's 2025 the Running Man reboot.
He was the highest paidscreenwriter in Hollywood in 2016,
earning $16 million for 2X Menscripts and one of the highest paid
producers in Hollywood, thanksto Deadpool. His first screenwriting
(10:25):
credit was a sequel to the hitaction film State of the Union, which
came out two months before Mr.And Mrs. Smith in April 2005. Mr.
And Mrs. Smith was not, asmany think, a remake of the 1996
one season TV show of the samename, which premiered in September
1996 on CBS in the US starringScott Bakula and Maria Bello as two
(10:50):
spies brought together to poseas a married couple working for a
secretive organisation calledthe factory. Only nine of its produced
13 episodes were ever airedbefore it was cancelled. Despite
featuring the same name and apassingly familiar premise, Simon
Kinberg's script for the 2005Mr. And Mrs. Smith is classified
as an original screenplay.Kinberg would say the idea came from
(11:12):
hearing about two friends inmarriage counselling. Nor is the
movie a remake of AlfredHitchcock's 1941 movie of the same
name. Just FYI. The originalpairing that producers had in mind
for this movie were Brad Pittand Nicole Kidman. Pitt signed on.
He had director approval andwhile other directors like John Woo,
David Fincher, Michael Mannand Guy Ritchie were considered,
(11:35):
Pitt really wanted to workwith Doug Liman. Liman was sent the
script in 2002, didn't thinkit was perfect for him, but he liked
it and had a strong point ofview on it. Doug Liman wanted to
work with Nicole Kidman.Nicole Kidman then signed on to the
movie, but schedulingconflicts with the Stepford Wives
running two and a half monthsbehind schedule led to her leaving
(11:56):
Mr. And Mrs. Smith without afemale lead. And just imagine how
different the world would beif Kidman had starred in this movie.
Without Kidman, though, Pittalso left the movie. Literal Mr.
Smith. Will Smith wasconsidered. Catherine Zeta Jones
was considered. The pairing ofJohnny Depp and Cate Blanchett was
considered, but Depp wasexhausted and Blanchett was filming
(12:19):
the Aviator. They alsoconsidered getting Brad Pitt back
and pairing him with his exgirlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow in an
art imitating life scenario ofex lovers playing a married couple
who hate each other. Can youimagine how awkward that would have
been? Aishwarya Rai wasapproached, but she was uncomfortable
with the amount of passionshown on screen. Gwen Stefani also
(12:41):
auditioned and famouslymentioned in an interview that she
was beaten to the role byAngelina Jolie. Now, Angelina Jolie
was on the up and up. Afterwinning an Academy Award in 2000
for Girl Interrupted andstarring in two Lara Croft Tomb Raider
movies, both of which have anepisode on this podcast, Doug Liman
became interested in castingJolie, and as soon as Jolie joined
(13:04):
the cast, Brad Pitt returnedto the project. Which brings me to
Doug Liman. He'd grown up in awealthy family, the son of an attorney,
and he wanted to be afilmmaker, something that his father
helped to fund until hisfather threatened to cut him off
financially in 1995. Now, hisfather didn't cut him off, and what
he ended up doing was helpingsecure funding for Liman's directorial
(13:26):
debut, which was 1996'sSwingers, which had been written
by his friend Jon Favreau. Themovie was a big success in the film
festival circuit and caughtthe eye of notorious bad guy and
criminal Harvey Weinstein, whooffered $5.5 million for the rights
to Swingers. Let's just say itwas a sore point between Liman and
(13:47):
Favreau because Favreau didnot make 5.5 million off of swingers,
despite it being his idea andhis script. Now, to say Liman's directorial
style is chaotic is somewhatof an understatement. On the Bourne
Identity, a movie that I gointo in episode 263. His rebellious,
almost relaxed, aloof style ofdirecting annoyed a lot of people
(14:10):
in high places who claimed hewasted studio money on his own amusement.
After spending years obtainingthe rights to Bourne, developing
it, fighting to get it filmed,Liman was fired and Paul Greengrass
was brought in to replace himon the Bourne Supremacy. So basically,
instead of a Bourne movie,Doug Liman worked on this movie instead.
(14:33):
Reportedly, the script forthis movie was rewritten 50 times,
with the original being muchfunnier than what ended up on screen.
Several writers contributed torewrites, including famed script
doctor Carrie Fisher, TerenceWinter, Jez and John Henry Butterworth,
Akiva Goldsman, Ted Griffinand Kieran and Michelle Mulroney.
Despite the rewrites, Kinbergretains sole screenplay credit. Liman
(14:58):
knew that Brad Pitt was linedup to work on Ocean's Twelve at the
end of April 2004, and sofilming had to start in January 2004,
but they couldn't agree a stopdate, which delayed the start of
filming Mr. And Mrs. Smith.Ironically, by April, though, Pitt
had to leave for Chicago forSteven Soderbergh's film. This ended
up leading to three separateshooting schedules, January to April
(15:21):
2004, August to October 2004,and four days in March 2005, which
is where a new ending wasallegedly shot. One of the first
scenes in the movie wouldcause issues after its release though,
as we flashback to John andJane meeting in Colombia, specifically
Bogota. For this scene,instead of filming an aerial shot
(15:43):
of Bogota, they usedpreviously filmed footage from another
movie, the 1994 action movieClear and Present Danger, which stars
Harrison Ford. They added someCG explosions, burning buildings,
and a person in the back ofthe helicopter, but the problem was
that it isn't Bogota. A quickGoogle image search shows you that
this isn't Bogota. Bogota is ahigh altitude city in the Andes with
(16:07):
booming skyscrapers, not atiny village with a hot, humid climate.
Clear and Present Dangeractually filmed this shot in rural
Mexico. When the shot wasrecycled for Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
the Colombian governmentpublicly criticized the production
for misrepresenting Bogota. Aletter was sent from the secretary
General of Bogota's mayor'soffice, Enrique Borda, to Doug Liman
(16:31):
and producer Arnold Michum,condemning the demonstration of,
quote, a complete level ofignorance by portraying Bogota as
incipient, showing, quote, abackward capital with little hotel
infrastructure, where povertyprevails, depressed, disorderly,
with high levels of violence,ultimately totally chaotic and unattractive,
(16:52):
unquote. Border also invitedthe director, producer and stars
to visit Bogota to experiencethe city in all its glory. It's not
known if anyone took thechance to take a trip to Colombia,
but a little bit of duediligence as to whether the scene
depicted Bogota probablywouldn't have gone amiss. But there's
likely a good reason how theBogota thing was missed. The press
(17:16):
intrusion and paparazzi tryingto get photos from this particular
shoot was insane. Not so muchat the start, but but rumors of Jolie
and Pitt's growing intimacy onand off the set was suddenly a hot
topic in May 2004.Specifically in an issue of Us magazine.
When the second shoot startedin August 2004, Paparazzi snapped
(17:40):
the two stars looking smittenwith each other, with PR reps saying
that they were just incharacter. But by the time the third
shoot started in March 2005,Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had
announced their separation andthe media was having a field day
dubbing the pair Brangelinaand printing Team Aniston and Team
Jolie T shirts. And of course,everyone focused on the women in
(18:03):
this situation and not theman. But mostly the blame for the
separation was levied atAngelina Jolie as the quote unquote
other woman. She was single atthe time, having divorced Billy Bob
Thornton in 2003. Pitt was theone who was married. Helicopters
would follow the pair, and thegoing rate for a paparazzi shot of
Pitt and Jolie together wasallegedly $300,000. Paparazzi used
(18:28):
a scanner to listen to on setwalkie talkies, and so they had to
be careful how they referredto Pitt and Jolie when on set. Producer
Lucas Foster erected a craneso that photographers in a hotel
room couldn't get that covetedshot of Pitt and Jolie together acting
out a scene. But the crane wasalso blocking the camera shot, so
it had to be edited out inpost. Brangelina became the hot topic
(18:52):
of conversation in gossipmagazines and online. Even the star's
trailers had to be moved onset to avoid the paparazzi lenses.
The pair's sex scene had to becarefully edited, mostly to get the
coveted PG13 rating, but alsoto avoid alienating the audience,
who may be huge JenniferAniston fans and think Jolie and
(19:14):
Pitt were really getting downto it and it was too sexy. And here's
the thing, no woman can seducea man away. Men are going to leave
if they want to leave. ButAngelina Jolie at the time was labeled
as the seductress. JenniferAniston was the girl next door. This
was the epitome of the MadonnaWhore complex. And no one knows what
(19:35):
really happened at the time.And to be honest, both women have
been pretty respectful as timehas gone on. But even the music in
the scene had to be questionedas to whether it was too sexy. Doug
Liman had to fight for the JoeStrummer song Mondo Bongo. And the
thing was, Angelina Jolie wasincredibly sexy. She was noted as
being very comfortable withher sexuality, very open about what
(19:58):
she liked. And both of theseactors were playing against type
in the movie, with Jolieplaying the suburban housewife and
Pitt with the weapons filledgarden shed. At the time, Pitt was
more of a homemaker intointerior design and probably wanting
to buy similar curtains. AndJolie was more knowledgeable about
knives and guns, joining inwith the prop guys show and tell
(20:20):
about weapons, but obviously.Nevertheless, filming did continue.
The exterior shots of theSmith residence were filmed at 1565
San Pasqual street inPasadena, California. The restaurant
and dance club scenes werefilmed at the Cicada restaurant and
Club on Olive street indowntown Los Angeles. The exteriors
of the construction site werefilmed at Caltrans District 7 headquarters
(20:42):
in downtown LA's Main Street.And Additional scenes were filmed
at the Quality coffee shop on7th street in downtown LA and Vincent
St. Thomas Bridge in SanPedro, California. Jane Smith's office
at I-Temp was filmed at 570Lexington Avenue in New York, and
filming also took place inGlenwood Springs, Colorado. And this
(21:04):
being a Doug Liman movie, aswell as taking into account Pitt's
contractual commitments toOceans 12 stopping and starting the
shoot twice, plus reshoots,unsurprisingly, this movie became
expensive. Liman's textbookdisorganized shooting would lead
to new sets being built at thelast minute and anywhere between
30 to 50 alternative endingsbeing written. It all led to Mr.
(21:27):
And Mrs. Smith coming in $26million over budget. While the Smith
family home was indeed a realhouse in Pasadena and is still a
real house in Pasadena, itobviously wasn't actually blown up
in real life. The actorsfilmed the live action plate of them
reacting to the houseexploding, but the production actually
blew up a model version of thehouse and then added CG debris. Terrence
(21:50):
Stamp and Jacqueline Bissetwere originally cast as the villains,
and a showdown ending wasfilmed that was never used. Once
the ending with Stamp andBisset was discarded, another ending
was filmed, this time withKeith David and Angela Bassett being
revealed to be the villainsfighting against John and Jane. While
Keith David ended up with acredited role as Father in the film,
(22:13):
Bassett is uncredited as thevoice of John Smith's boss. Atlanta.
Liman would say in aninterview that it was important to
not give that final resolutionbecause you don't just fight for
your marriage and then stopfighting. So the big boss reveal
was scrapped and they reshotscenes with the marriage therapist
played off screen by WilliamFitchner. There was also a potential
(22:34):
lawsuit by author GavinBishop, writer of the Secret Lives
of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, achildren's book about a couple who
left each morning. Hepretended to go to the office, she
pretended to do housework, butthey were both actually spies. The
book was first published in1997, and while on a layover in Los
Angeles in 2005, his wifespotted a billboard for Mr. And Mrs.
(22:58):
Smith, starring Brad Pitt andAngelina Jolie. Six months later,
the film came out in theirnative Christchurch, and his wife
was adamant that it was anadaptation of his book, and everyone
started congratulating him onthis adaptation. So Bishop decided
to speak to a lawyer to file acopyright suit. However, he was advised
(23:20):
taking on 20th Century Fox,Regency Summit and Weed Road Pictures
would probably be incrediblyexpensive, and there was no guarantee
that a small New Zealandauthor would win. And so the plagiarism
accusations went no furtherand this is the perfect time to segue
into the obligatory Keanureference of this episode. And if
(23:40):
you don't know what that is,it's where I try to link the movie
that I'm featuring with KeanuReeves for no reason other than he
is the best of men, as I'mgoing to prove later. Now, if Speed
taught us anything, it's thatrelationships that start under intense
circumstances never last. AndI think this movie is the perfect
example of that. Other thanSpeed, obviously, which is the other
(24:03):
perfect example of that,because spoiler alert. The relationship
that started under the intensecircumstances of this movie didn't
last. But before we get intoall of that, I just want to mention
the score by John Powell andalso the song Express Yourself. The
Messian Worker remix byCharles Wright and the Watts 103rd
Street Rhythm Band alwaysreminds me of the fight scene in
(24:26):
this movie. There is somesongs that just take you straight
to a particular scene in amovie and that song always takes
me to this movie. Now whetheryou see it as a blessing or a curse,
the movie basically marketeditself with the whole Brangelina
thing. Though they both deniedan on set relationship, they later
admitted they fell in lovewhile filming. In March 2005, Jennifer
(24:50):
Aniston filed for divorce fromBrad Pitt and the Brangelina train
went into overdrive. Mr. AndMrs. Smith released on 10 June 2005,
the same week as BatmanBegins, but the Smiths beat that
movie into submission andBatman had to settle for third place
with the Smiths at first, justahead of Madagascar. Batman soon
(25:13):
overtook it though, and by itssecond week Mr. And Mrs. Smith had
to make do with second place.Mr. And Mrs. Smith would stay in
the top 10 for six weeks anddespite it being an expensive movie
to make, costing $110 million,40 million of which paid for Pitt
and Jolie. They both received$20 million each. Mr. And Mrs. Smith
(25:34):
grossed $186.3 milliondomestically in the US and $301 million
internationally, for a totalworldwide gross of $487.3 million.
At the time, it was thehighest grossing film for both Pitt
and Jolie, but that's sincebeen surpassed. It would go on to
become the seventh highestgrossing film of 2005 worldwide.
(25:59):
By July 2005, Pitt and Joliewere spotted on holiday together
in Kenya with Jolie's son.They then took part in a huge photo
shoot for W magazine in July2005 titled Domestic Bliss, depicting
them as a happy couple, whichoutraged fans who were very much
in the Team Jen camp. WhenJolie traveled to Ethiopia the same
(26:24):
month to adopt her eldestdaughter, Pitt accompanied her on
the trip. All the while, Mr.And Mrs. Smith was still out in cinemas
and still doing business, andthe celebrity magazines are having
the best time selling hundredsof thousands of copies purely based
on the phenomenon ofBrangelina, while also still blaming
Jennifer Aniston for notwanting children and making him leave.
(26:47):
You cannot make this up. Notthat it's anyone's business, but
Aniston later confirmed shewas experiencing fertility issues
at the time. Three monthsafter Pitt and Aniston's divorce
was finalized in January 2006,Jolie and Pitt announced they were
expecting a baby and Pittlegally adopted her two eldest children.
(27:09):
Rotten Tomatoes has it at ascore of 60% with a consensus reading
of Although this actionromance suffers from weak writing
and one too many explosions,the chemistry generated by on screen
couple Pitt and Jolie ispalpable enough to make this a thoroughly
enjoyable summer action flick,which is a pretty accurate description
actually. The chemistry inthis movie is absolutely top notch
(27:32):
and remains completelybrilliant, but the writing is very
weak. A sequel to this moviewas discussed with Pitt and Jolie,
but they were dissatisfiedwith the story ideas which mostly
revolved around the coupleseparating yet again or the couple
now with children. There wasan unused ending for Mr. And Mrs.
Smith that had the charactersof John and Jane interacting with
(27:54):
a young daughter. In 2007 apilot for a spin off TV series was
written by Simon Kinberg anddirected by Doug Liman. Set six months
after the end of the movie,the roles of John and Jane were played
by Martin Henderson andJordana Brewster. But the network
decided not to commission theseries and obviously we got the Amazon
(28:15):
prime series Mr. And Mrs.Smith starring Donald Glover and
Maya Erskine, which I saw afew episodes of and I actually thought
was a lot of fun. I likedtheir chemistry, but as a long form
show it was obviously verydifferent to the source material.
The series has since beenrenewed for a second season. Mr.
And Mrs. Smith is a fun, sillymovie that never pretends to be anything
(28:37):
but. However, any chat aboutthis movie can't ignore the real
life relationship that playedout behind the scenes and what happened
to Brangelina. Now I try toavoid celebrity gossip on this podcast,
but because it intertwines sodeeply with this movie, the history
of this movie, and the legacyof this movie, it's hard not to get
(28:59):
into it. Mr. And Mrs. Smith isa fascinating time capsule of a moment
in 2005 when two people met,fell in love. However they claim
it happened and then in lifedepicting art started to resent each
other, hate each other, andviciously fight with each other.
A fight that has played out inmultiple lawsuits. Unlike the movie,
(29:21):
there was no happy ever aftertogether, but instead it's apart.
We're never going to know whattruly happened with their relationship,
but it all plays out here onscreen, a story of initial attraction,
intense chemistry, lust,despite all the while pretending
to be something they're not.That is acting, the grandiose celebrity
(29:42):
of it all, followed by themundanity of the relationship. The
spark is gone. It was thegeneral public's fascination with
Brangelina that made audiencessee this movie, to see this partnership
sizzle on screen. And itreally does sizzle from this movie.
A marriage ended, arelationship started, which presumably
(30:02):
started out very loving andsupportive, and six children came
of it, followed by anothermarriage and another divorce. That's
some legacy for any movie, butit's also somewhat tainted. In August
2016, Angelina Jolie filed fordivorce from Brad Pitt, citing irreconcilable
differences trigger warningfor a brief mention of domestic abuse
(30:25):
so please skip ahead oneminute if you'd rather not hear stuff,
but Brad Pitt may have beenthe homemaker in 2005, but fast forward
a decade or so, he's reallynot. While irreconcilable differences
was the official reason,Angelina Jolie also filed court papers
accusing Brad Pitt ofallegedly drunkenly attacking her
(30:48):
and their children on aprivate plane in a lawsuit over Chateau
Miraval, a home and vineyardin the south of France that the former
couple owned. Jolie allegedthat while on the flight, Pitt grabbed
her by the head, pulled herinto the plane bathroom and threw
her against the bathroom wall,as well as verbally abused and poured
alcohol on his family duringthe flight from France to la. He
(31:12):
also punched the plane ceilingnumerous times. He also allegedly
lunged at one of the childrenwho was trying to protect their mother,
allegedly grabbing one of hischildren by the throat and striking
another child in the face. Thesix children were aged between eight
and 15 at the time. Theincident was investigated by the
FBI in 2016, but authoritiesdecided not to press charges. It's
(31:36):
worth adding that Pitt hasalways denied Jolie's accusations
of abuse. It's with thisknowledge that the legacy of Mr.
And Mrs. Smith, with all itssexy chemistry and passion, also
conveys a level of violencethat also feels eerily prescient.
Knowing Jolie's accusations ofspousal abuse and the fact that three
(31:56):
of his own children havepublicly denounced him by removing
the surname Pitt from theirnames and retaining the Jolie part,
which speaks volumes about howthey feel about their father's actions
towards their mother. A poston Instagram on Father's Day in 2020
by Pitt and Jolie's secondeldest son, then 16 years old, speaks
(32:18):
volumes calling his father aworld class a hole. Pitt has never
commented about theallegations or about his relationship
with his children, but hasbeen open about his drinking and
drug use. In a May 27GQinterview, Pitt revealed he'd quit
drinking and smoking cannabis,so at least he's taking steps to
be clean and sober. AdamBrody, who I've barely mentioned,
(32:42):
nor have I even reallymentioned, Kerry Washington, who
deserves way better than thismovie, gives up. And Vince Vaughan,
who interestingly isn't listedat all in the end title card credits
but is in the actual list ofcredits. Brody's character Benjamin
the Tank Dans can be seenwearing a Fight Club T shirt while
being questioned by JohnSmith, which is an obvious shout
(33:02):
out to one of Brad Pitt's mostfamous movies. It does beg the question
of who stars in Fight Club inthis universe, but this is a movie
you don't really questionbecause if you do, you realise it
makes no sense. I really likethis movie. I've seen it several
times since it came out, butit hits differently now, no pun intended.
The characters of John andJane are clearly written by a man
(33:26):
in that John is allowed to becomedic whereas Jane is given very
little in the way ofpersonality. That's not stuck up
demanding wife. That bugs me.Also, the plot holes infuriate me
a little. You're telling methis is two of the best spy agencies
in the world competing in thesame city. They know of each other's
existence but have no ideathat their top two agents are married
(33:48):
and when they met they didn'tdo extensive background checks on
each other and the companiesjust let their agent marry someone
who they hadn't checked andJohn's agency didn't know that the
guy paid to act like Jane'sfather was actually an actor. And
after the shootout at ikea,it's not ikea, but it looks like
an ikea. There's norepercussions, they just go back
(34:09):
to the agencies who weretrying to kill them or they destroyed
both agencies or they're stillbeing pursued and just find the time
to have lots of sex and go tocouples therapy while being hunted.
This movie is infuriating, notto mention the fact they both go
out late into the evening.John gets drunk, plays poker and
gets lucky, while Janeassassinates an arms dealer dressed
(34:30):
in black leather and fishnet.AB sails down the building, gets
into a taxi. Great shot, bythe way. I love it. But then both
are back, ready to go to theirneighbour's party straight after.
And we know it's straightafter because Jane is still wearing
the black fishnet tights. Makethe timeline work. Anyway, it's crazy
to me. The one tiny change inthis movie will Smith as John or
(34:53):
Nicole Kidman as Jane and thewhole Brangelina craze ceases to
exist. The butterfly effect ofthis movie is huge. One small decision
changed so many lives andcreated new ones. And now Mr. And
Mrs. Smith exists on TV,slightly different but more fleshed
out. That reminds me, I shoulddefinitely finish season one. Thank
(35:18):
you for listening. As always,I would love to hear your thoughts
on Mr. And Mrs. Smith andthank you for your continued support
of this podcast. If you wantto help this podcast grow and reach
more people, you could tellyour friends and family about this
podcast or about this episode.You could leave a rating or review
wherever you found thispodcast. Or you can find me, follow
me at Verbal Diorama acrossSocial media where you can like post,
(35:42):
share posts and comment onposts. It all helps. If you like
this episode of Mr. And Mrs.Smith, you might also like episode
249, which was one of thosetwo at a time episodes that I mentioned
earlier, which is on LaraCroft Tomb Raider and Lara Croft
Tomb Raider, the Cradle ofLife. And also check out episode
263 on the Bourne Identity,because that goes into a little bit
(36:04):
more of Doug Liman and theDoug Liman of everything. Some of
his movies are genuinelyterrific. Edge of Tomorrow is still
one of the most underratedgems of sci fi that I think ever
exists, but that was a funepisode. So if you enjoyed this one,
you'll also enjoy that one. Asalways, give me feedback. Let me
know what you think of myepisode recommendations. So the next
(36:27):
episode Akiva Goldsman wouldbe a producer on Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
and in 1994 he would breakthrough in screenwriting with the
Client, an adaptation of JohnGrisham's novel of the same name,
directed by Joel Schumacher.In 1995 he would write Batman Forever,
starring last episodesuperstar Val Kilmer, also directed
(36:48):
by Joel Schumacher. He thenworked with schumacher for a third
time writing A Time to Kill.But in 1997, Goldsman collaborated
with Joel Schumacher for afourth time on the topic of the next
episode. It starred GeorgeClooney, Chris o'Donnell, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurmanand Alicia Silverstone. The episode
(37:10):
I did last year on BatmanForever was a huge success, one of
the biggest episodes of theyear. And so it makes complete sense
to do what I set out to dooriginally and finish the original
Batman quadrilogy with Batmanand Robin. So join me next week for
the history and legacy of thatcampy thrill ride that is Batman
(37:33):
and Robin. If you enjoy what Ido for this podcast and you want
to support an indie podcasterwho does literally everything on
her own, if you have somespare change, you can financially
contribute to the upkeep ofthis podcast. This podcast is free
and it always will be free, soyou're under no obligation. However,
if you get value and you havethe means to help, there are a couple
(37:54):
of ways you can help. You canmake a one off donation@verbaldiorama.com
tips or you can subscribe tothe patreon@verbaldiorama.com patreon
all money goes back into thispodcast by paying for software subscriptions,
website hosting or newequipment. And as always, huge thanks
(38:14):
to the incredible patrons ofthis podcast. Simon, Laurel, Derek,
Kat, Andy, Mike, Luke,Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa,
Sam, Jack, Dave, Stuart,Nicholas. So, Kev, Heather, Danny,
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(38:40):
you can say hello, you cangive me feedback or suggestions,
or just go toverbaldiorama.com and fill out the
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any episode of this podcast,but if you enjoyed Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
feel free to get in touch andlet me know.
And finally
(39:55):
Bye.
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal diorama, episode
366, Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Thisis the podcast that's all about the
history and legacy of movies,you knknow,ow andmoviesyoudon't.And
baby, you couldn't find thebutton with both hands and a mamap,pandain'tthat
the truth. Welcome to VerbalDiorama. Whether you're a brandbrand-newnewlistener,whetheryou'rearegularreturninglistener,thank
(02:35):
you so much for being here.Thank you so much for choosing to
listen to this podcast. I amso happy to have you here just generally,
but also for the history andlegacy of Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Thank
you so much to everyone who iscoming back who listens to this podcast
and has continued to listenand support this podcast over the
(02:55):
last five, six. Five or sixyears. And I don't keep exact count,
but I'd say high 50s, low 60s.I mean, I know I've been around the
block and all, but 306episodes? Some were indeed two at
a time. Thank you for yoursupport. It genuinely means so much.
And yes, I have been waitingto use those quotes in this episode.
(03:17):
And honestly, I'm so. I'm sopleased with myself right now. It's
not quite the exact quote inthe movie, but when he says five,
she says six, and he says fiveor six. I was like, that just like,
works so well. Anyway, I'mdelighted to have you here. Thank
you for listening. Thank youfor your continued support. It really
does mean the world. And this,again, is an episode that has been
(03:39):
a long time coming to thispodcast. I cannot tell you how long
Mr. And Mrs. Smith has been onthe roster. Well, actually, I can
in fact tell you because Iwatched this movie back in 2021,
and I know this because Irecord it on my letterboxd and I
looked at the review that Iput on my Letterboxd in 2021, and
(04:02):
in 2021, it says somethingalong the lines of, and I'm paraphrasing
here, should do this on thepodcast soon. And that was 2021.
So four years later, it'sfinally on the podcast. But this
has just been one of thosemovies that's just continually being
pushed infafavourvorofotherstuff.AndI thought,
you know what? Finally, let'sget down to Mr. And Mrs. Smith, because
(04:25):
this movie is fun, but it'sgot problems. And we're going to
talk about it. The lastepisode was on Tombstone. My very
first western, would youbelieve? And I absolutely loved working
on Tombstone. Some movies arejust perfect examples of why this
podcast even exists. Tocelebrate everything about movie
(04:46):
making, but also how difficultit can be in Hollywood to get stuff
made. The fact it exists atall, with all its various troubles,
is miraculous, but also thefact that someone was trying to sabotage
it. And that sabotage onlyseemed to strengthen it. It's just
such a brilliant, interestingstory, and I'm so happy to have done
(05:07):
that episode on Tombstone.ObvioObviously,uslymovingthisweektoMr. AndMrs.Smith,thisproduction
had a whole different set ofproblems. The Hollywood celebrity
rumour mill in the 2000s wasunfiltered. It was bold and it was
brash. Everyone was datingeveryone else. Everyone was either
too fat or too thin. Therewere pregnancy rumours galore. Even
(05:29):
though everyone knows youdon't assume things like this. And
one of the most beautifulcouples of the early 2000s was Brad
Pitt and his stunning wife,Jennifer Aniston. Apart, they were
two of the most glamorous,beautiful and successful people in
the world. Together, they werea phenomenon never before matched
(05:50):
up. That changed when BradPitt filmed his new action spy comedy
movie. Here's the trailer forMr. And Mrs. Smith.
(07:50):
John and Jane Smith are aseemingly ordinary suburban married
couple who have grown boredand distant in their relationship.
Unbeknownst to each other,they are both highly skilled assassins
working for competingagencies. When they are independently
assigned to eliminate the sametarget, their secret identities are
exposed and they discover thattheir next mission is to kill each
(08:12):
other. What follows is anescalating battle of wits and weaponry
as the married assassins usetheir professional skills against
one another, ultimatelyforcing them to confront both their
crumbling marriage and theirdeadly careers, while trying to survive
their employer's attempts toeliminate them both. Let's run through
the cast of this movie. We allknow who's in this movie, but we're
(08:34):
gonna have to talk about it.We have Brad Pitt as John Smith,
Angelina Jolie as Jane Smith,Vince Vaughan as Eddie, Adam Brody
as Benjamin the Tank Dans,Kerry Washington as Jasmine, Keith
David as Father, Chris Whiteas Martin Coleman, Michelle Monaghan
(08:56):
as Gwen, and Angela Bassett,uncredited, as Atlanta. Mr. And Mrs.
Smith was written by SimonKinberg and was directed by Doug
Liman. It's safe to say thatscreenwriter Simon Kinberg has had
somewhat of a meteoric rise inHollywood. Graduating from the Columbia
University School of the Artsin 2003, he'd already sold pitches
(09:18):
to major studios while stillin film school, including Ghouls
of New York. In his firstyear, which sold for six figures,
Ghouls of New York connectedKinberg to the industry, and his
thesis project would becomethe script for Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
which he sold to SummitEntertainment for six figures in
2000 and wrote an initialtreatment in January 2001. Bear in
(09:41):
mind, he didn't graduate fromColumbia till 2003. Kinberg has worked
on some of the biggest moviesof the 2000s as a writer, producer,
and sometimes both. He gotinvolved in Fox's X Men prequel series
in the early 2000 and tens,writing and producing Days of Future,
Past and Apocalypse, andwriting, producing and directing
(10:02):
Dark Phoenix. He also producedthe Martian, Cinderella, Deadpool,
Logan, and Most recently EdgarWright's 2025 the Running Man reboot.
He was the highest paidscreenwriter in Hollywood in 2016,
earning $16 million for 2X Menscripts and one of the highest paid
producers in Hollywood, thanksto Deadpool. His first screenwriting
(10:25):
credit was a sequel to the hitaction film State of the Union, which
came out two months before Mr.And Mrs. Smith in April 2005. Mr.
And Mrs. Smith was not, asmany think, a remake of the 1996
one season TV show of the samename, which premiered in September
1996 on CBS in the US starringScott Bakula and Maria Bello as two
(10:50):
spies brought together to poseas a married couple working for a
secretive organisation calledthe factory. Only nine of its produced
13 episodes were ever airedbefore it was cancelled. Despite
featuring the same name and apassingly familiar premise, Simon
Kinberg's script for the 2005Mr. And Mrs. Smith is classified
as an original screenplay.Kinberg would say the idea came from
(11:12):
hearing about two friends inmarriage counselling. Nor is the
movie a remake of AlfredHitchcock's 1941 movie of the same
name. Just FYI. The originalpairing that producers had in mind
for this movie were Brad Pittand Nicole Kidman. Pitt signed on.
He had director approval andwhile other directors like John Woo,
David Fincher, Michael Mannand Guy Ritchie were considered,
(11:35):
Pitt really wanted to workwith Doug Liman. Liman was sent the
script in 2002, didn't thinkit was perfect for him, but he liked
it and had a strong point ofview on it. Doug Liman wanted to
work with Nicole Kidman.Nicole Kidman then signed on to the
movie, but schedulingconflicts with the Stepford Wives
running two and a half monthsbehind schedule led to her leaving
(11:56):
Mr. And Mrs. Smith without afemale lead. And just imagine how
different the world would beif Kidman had starred in this movie.
Without Kidman, though, Pittalso left the movie. Literal Mr.
Smith. Will Smith wasconsidered. Catherine Zeta Jones
was considered. The pairing ofJohnny Depp and Cate Blanchett was
considered, but Depp wasexhausted and Blanchett was filming
(12:19):
the Aviator. They alsoconsidered getting Brad Pitt back
and pairing him with his exgirlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow in an
art imitating life scenario ofex lovers playing a married couple
who hate each other. Can youimagine how awkward that would have
been? Aishwarya Rai wasapproached, but she was uncomfortable
with the amount of passionshown on screen. Gwen Stefani also
(12:41):
auditioned and famouslymentioned in an interview that she
was beaten to the role byAngelina Jolie. Now, Angelina Jolie
was on the up and up. Afterwinning an Academy Award in 2000
for Girl Interrupted andstarring in two Lara Croft Tomb Raider
movies, both of which have anepisode on this podcast, Doug Liman
became interested in castingJolie, and as soon as Jolie joined
(13:04):
the cast, Brad Pitt returnedto the project. Which brings me to
Doug Liman. He'd grown up in awealthy family, the son of an attorney,
and he wanted to be afilmmaker, something that his father
helped to fund until hisfather threatened to cut him off
financially in 1995. Now, hisfather didn't cut him off, and what
he ended up doing was helpingsecure funding for Liman's directorial
(13:26):
debut, which was 1996'sSwingers, which had been written
by his friend Jon Favreau. Themovie was a big success in the film
festival circuit and caughtthe eye of notorious bad guy and
criminal Harvey Weinstein, whooffered $5.5 million for the rights
to Swingers. Let's just say itwas a sore point between Liman and
(13:47):
Favreau because Favreau didnot make 5.5 million off of swingers,
despite it being his idea andhis script. Now, to say Liman's directorial
style is chaotic is somewhatof an understatement. On the Bourne
Identity, a movie that I gointo in episode 263. His rebellious,
almost relaxed, aloof style ofdirecting annoyed a lot of people
(14:10):
in high places who claimed hewasted studio money on his own amusement.
After spending years obtainingthe rights to Bourne, developing
it, fighting to get it filmed,Liman was fired and Paul Greengrass
was brought in to replace himon the Bourne Supremacy. So basically,
instead of a Bourne movie,Doug Liman worked on this movie instead.
(14:33):
Reportedly, the script forthis movie was rewritten 50 times,
with the original being muchfunnier than what ended up on screen.
Several writers contributed torewrites, including famed script
doctor Carrie Fisher, TerenceWinter, Jez and John Henry Butterworth,
Akiva Goldsman, Ted Griffinand Kieran and Michelle Mulroney.
Despite the rewrites, Kinbergretains sole screenplay credit. Liman
(14:58):
knew that Brad Pitt was linedup to work on Ocean's Twelve at the
end of April 2004, and sofilming had to start in January 2004,
but they couldn't agree a stopdate, which delayed the start of
filming Mr. And Mrs. Smith.Ironically, by April, though, Pitt
had to leave for Chicago forSteven Soderbergh's film. This ended
up leading to three separateshooting schedules, January to April
(15:21):
2004, August to October 2004,and four days in March 2005, which
is where a new ending wasallegedly shot. One of the first
scenes in the movie wouldcause issues after its release though,
as we flashback to John andJane meeting in Colombia, specifically
Bogota. For this scene,instead of filming an aerial shot
(15:43):
of Bogota, they usedpreviously filmed footage from another
movie, the 1994 action movieClear and Present Danger, which stars
Harrison Ford. They added someCG explosions, burning buildings,
and a person in the back ofthe helicopter, but the problem was
that it isn't Bogota. A quickGoogle image search shows you that
this isn't Bogota. Bogota is ahigh altitude city in the Andes with
(16:07):
booming skyscrapers, not atiny village with a hot, humid climate.
Clear and Present Dangeractually filmed this shot in rural
Mexico. When the shot wasrecycled for Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
the Colombian governmentpublicly criticized the production
for misrepresenting Bogota. Aletter was sent from the secretary
General of Bogota's mayor'soffice, Enrique Borda, to Doug Liman
(16:31):
and producer Arnold Michum,condemning the demonstration of,
quote, a complete level ofignorance by portraying Bogota as
incipient, showing, quote, abackward capital with little hotel
infrastructure, where povertyprevails, depressed, disorderly,
with high levels of violence,ultimately totally chaotic and unattractive,
(16:52):
unquote. Border also invitedthe director, producer and stars
to visit Bogota to experiencethe city in all its glory. It's not
known if anyone took thechance to take a trip to Colombia,
but a little bit of duediligence as to whether the scene
depicted Bogota probablywouldn't have gone amiss. But there's
likely a good reason how theBogota thing was missed. The press
(17:16):
intrusion and paparazzi tryingto get photos from this particular
shoot was insane. Not so muchat the start, but but rumors of Jolie
and Pitt's growing intimacy onand off the set was suddenly a hot
topic in May 2004.Specifically in an issue of Us magazine.
When the second shoot startedin August 2004, Paparazzi snapped
(17:40):
the two stars looking smittenwith each other, with PR reps saying
that they were just incharacter. But by the time the third
shoot started in March 2005,Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had
announced their separation andthe media was having a field day
dubbing the pair Brangelinaand printing Team Aniston and Team
Jolie T shirts. And of course,everyone focused on the women in
(18:03):
this situation and not theman. But mostly the blame for the
separation was levied atAngelina Jolie as the quote unquote
other woman. She was single atthe time, having divorced Billy Bob
Thornton in 2003. Pitt was theone who was married. Helicopters
would follow the pair, and thegoing rate for a paparazzi shot of
Pitt and Jolie together wasallegedly $300,000. Paparazzi used
(18:28):
a scanner to listen to on setwalkie talkies, and so they had to
be careful how they referredto Pitt and Jolie when on set. Producer
Lucas Foster erected a craneso that photographers in a hotel
room couldn't get that covetedshot of Pitt and Jolie together acting
out a scene. But the crane wasalso blocking the camera shot, so
it had to be edited out inpost. Brangelina became the hot topic
(18:52):
of conversation in gossipmagazines and online. Even the star's
trailers had to be moved onset to avoid the paparazzi lenses.
The pair's sex scene had to becarefully edited, mostly to get the
coveted PG13 rating, but alsoto avoid alienating the audience,
who may be huge JenniferAniston fans and think Jolie and
(19:14):
Pitt were really getting downto it and it was too sexy. And here's
the thing, no woman can seducea man away. Men are going to leave
if they want to leave. ButAngelina Jolie at the time was labeled
as the seductress. JenniferAniston was the girl next door. This
was the epitome of the MadonnaWhore complex. And no one knows what
(19:35):
really happened at the time.And to be honest, both women have
been pretty respectful as timehas gone on. But even the music in
the scene had to be questionedas to whether it was too sexy. Doug
Liman had to fight for the JoeStrummer song Mondo Bongo. And the
thing was, Angelina Jolie wasincredibly sexy. She was noted as
being very comfortable withher sexuality, very open about what
(19:58):
she liked. And both of theseactors were playing against type
in the movie, with Jolieplaying the suburban housewife and
Pitt with the weapons filledgarden shed. At the time, Pitt was
more of a homemaker intointerior design and probably wanting
to buy similar curtains. AndJolie was more knowledgeable about
knives and guns, joining inwith the prop guys show and tell
(20:20):
about weapons, but obviously.Nevertheless, filming did continue.
The exterior shots of theSmith residence were filmed at 1565
San Pasqual street inPasadena, California. The restaurant
and dance club scenes werefilmed at the Cicada restaurant and
Club on Olive street indowntown Los Angeles. The exteriors
of the construction site werefilmed at Caltrans District 7 headquarters
(20:42):
in downtown LA's Main Street.And Additional scenes were filmed
at the Quality coffee shop on7th street in downtown LA and Vincent
St. Thomas Bridge in SanPedro, California. Jane Smith's office
at I-Temp was filmed at 570Lexington Avenue in New York, and
filming also took place inGlenwood Springs, Colorado. And this
(21:04):
being a Doug Liman movie, aswell as taking into account Pitt's
contractual commitments toOceans 12 stopping and starting the
shoot twice, plus reshoots,unsurprisingly, this movie became
expensive. Liman's textbookdisorganized shooting would lead
to new sets being built at thelast minute and anywhere between
30 to 50 alternative endingsbeing written. It all led to Mr.
(21:27):
And Mrs. Smith coming in $26million over budget. While the Smith
family home was indeed a realhouse in Pasadena and is still a
real house in Pasadena, itobviously wasn't actually blown up
in real life. The actorsfilmed the live action plate of them
reacting to the houseexploding, but the production actually
blew up a model version of thehouse and then added CG debris. Terrence
(21:50):
Stamp and Jacqueline Bissetwere originally cast as the villains,
and a showdown ending wasfilmed that was never used. Once
the ending with Stamp andBisset was discarded, another ending
was filmed, this time withKeith David and Angela Bassett being
revealed to be the villainsfighting against John and Jane. While
Keith David ended up with acredited role as Father in the film,
(22:13):
Bassett is uncredited as thevoice of John Smith's boss. Atlanta.
Liman would say in aninterview that it was important to
not give that final resolutionbecause you don't just fight for
your marriage and then stopfighting. So the big boss reveal
was scrapped and they reshotscenes with the marriage therapist
played off screen by WilliamFitchner. There was also a potential
(22:34):
lawsuit by author GavinBishop, writer of the Secret Lives
of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, achildren's book about a couple who
left each morning. Hepretended to go to the office, she
pretended to do housework, butthey were both actually spies. The
book was first published in1997, and while on a layover in Los
Angeles in 2005, his wifespotted a billboard for Mr. And Mrs.
(22:58):
Smith, starring Brad Pitt andAngelina Jolie. Six months later,
the film came out in theirnative Christchurch, and his wife
was adamant that it was anadaptation of his book, and everyone
started congratulating him onthis adaptation. So Bishop decided
to speak to a lawyer to file acopyright suit. However, he was advised
(23:20):
taking on 20th Century Fox,Regency Summit and Weed Road Pictures
would probably be incrediblyexpensive, and there was no guarantee
that a small New Zealandauthor would win. And so the plagiarism
accusations went no furtherand this is the perfect time to segue
into the obligatory Keanureference of this episode. And if
(23:40):
you don't know what that is,it's where I try to link the movie
that I'm featuring with KeanuReeves for no reason other than he
is the best of men, as I'mgoing to prove later. Now, if Speed
taught us anything, it's thatrelationships that start under intense
circumstances never last. AndI think this movie is the perfect
example of that. Other thanSpeed, obviously, which is the other
(24:03):
perfect example of that,because spoiler alert. The relationship
that started under the intensecircumstances of this movie didn't
last. But before we get intoall of that, I just want to mention
the score by John Powell andalso the song Express Yourself. The
Messian Worker remix byCharles Wright and the Watts 103rd
Street Rhythm Band alwaysreminds me of the fight scene in
(24:26):
this movie. There is somesongs that just take you straight
to a particular scene in amovie and that song always takes
me to this movie. Now whetheryou see it as a blessing or a curse,
the movie basically marketeditself with the whole Brangelina
thing. Though they both deniedan on set relationship, they later
admitted they fell in lovewhile filming. In March 2005, Jennifer
(24:50):
Aniston filed for divorce fromBrad Pitt and the Brangelina train
went into overdrive. Mr. AndMrs. Smith released on 10 June 2005,
the same week as BatmanBegins, but the Smiths beat that
movie into submission andBatman had to settle for third place
with the Smiths at first, justahead of Madagascar. Batman soon
(25:13):
overtook it though, and by itssecond week Mr. And Mrs. Smith had
to make do with second place.Mr. And Mrs. Smith would stay in
the top 10 for six weeks anddespite it being an expensive movie
to make, costing $110 million,40 million of which paid for Pitt
and Jolie. They both received$20 million each. Mr. And Mrs. Smith
(25:34):
grossed $186.3 milliondomestically in the US and $301 million
internationally, for a totalworldwide gross of $487.3 million.
At the time, it was thehighest grossing film for both Pitt
and Jolie, but that's sincebeen surpassed. It would go on to
become the seventh highestgrossing film of 2005 worldwide.
(25:59):
By July 2005, Pitt and Joliewere spotted on holiday together
in Kenya with Jolie's son.They then took part in a huge photo
shoot for W magazine in July2005 titled Domestic Bliss, depicting
them as a happy couple, whichoutraged fans who were very much
in the Team Jen camp. WhenJolie traveled to Ethiopia the same
(26:24):
month to adopt her eldestdaughter, Pitt accompanied her on
the trip. All the while, Mr.And Mrs. Smith was still out in cinemas
and still doing business, andthe celebrity magazines are having
the best time selling hundredsof thousands of copies purely based
on the phenomenon ofBrangelina, while also still blaming
Jennifer Aniston for notwanting children and making him leave.
(26:47):
You cannot make this up. Notthat it's anyone's business, but
Aniston later confirmed shewas experiencing fertility issues
at the time. Three monthsafter Pitt and Aniston's divorce
was finalized in January 2006,Jolie and Pitt announced they were
expecting a baby and Pittlegally adopted her two eldest children.
(27:09):
Rotten Tomatoes has it at ascore of 60% with a consensus reading
of Although this actionromance suffers from weak writing
and one too many explosions,the chemistry generated by on screen
couple Pitt and Jolie ispalpable enough to make this a thoroughly
enjoyable summer action flick,which is a pretty accurate description
actually. The chemistry inthis movie is absolutely top notch
(27:32):
and remains completelybrilliant, but the writing is very
weak. A sequel to this moviewas discussed with Pitt and Jolie,
but they were dissatisfiedwith the story ideas which mostly
revolved around the coupleseparating yet again or the couple
now with children. There wasan unused ending for Mr. And Mrs.
Smith that had the charactersof John and Jane interacting with
(27:54):
a young daughter. In 2007 apilot for a spin off TV series was
written by Simon Kinberg anddirected by Doug Liman. Set six months
after the end of the movie,the roles of John and Jane were played
by Martin Henderson andJordana Brewster. But the network
decided not to commission theseries and obviously we got the Amazon
(28:15):
prime series Mr. And Mrs.Smith starring Donald Glover and
Maya Erskine, which I saw afew episodes of and I actually thought
was a lot of fun. I likedtheir chemistry, but as a long form
show it was obviously verydifferent to the source material.
The series has since beenrenewed for a second season. Mr.
And Mrs. Smith is a fun, sillymovie that never pretends to be anything
(28:37):
but. However, any chat aboutthis movie can't ignore the real
life relationship that playedout behind the scenes and what happened
to Brangelina. Now I try toavoid celebrity gossip on this podcast,
but because it intertwines sodeeply with this movie, the history
of this movie, and the legacyof this movie, it's hard not to get
(28:59):
into it. Mr. And Mrs. Smith isa fascinating time capsule of a moment
in 2005 when two people met,fell in love. However they claim
it happened and then in lifedepicting art started to resent each
other, hate each other, andviciously fight with each other.
A fight that has played out inmultiple lawsuits. Unlike the movie,
(29:21):
there was no happy ever aftertogether, but instead it's apart.
We're never going to know whattruly happened with their relationship,
but it all plays out here onscreen, a story of initial attraction,
intense chemistry, lust,despite all the while pretending
to be something they're not.That is acting, the grandiose celebrity
(29:42):
of it all, followed by themundanity of the relationship. The
spark is gone. It was thegeneral public's fascination with
Brangelina that made audiencessee this movie, to see this partnership
sizzle on screen. And itreally does sizzle from this movie.
A marriage ended, arelationship started, which presumably
(30:02):
started out very loving andsupportive, and six children came
of it, followed by anothermarriage and another divorce. That's
some legacy for any movie, butit's also somewhat tainted. In August
2016, Angelina Jolie filed fordivorce from Brad Pitt, citing irreconcilable
differences trigger warningfor a brief mention of domestic abuse
(30:25):
so please skip ahead oneminute if you'd rather not hear stuff,
but Brad Pitt may have beenthe homemaker in 2005, but fast forward
a decade or so, he's reallynot. While irreconcilable differences
was the official reason,Angelina Jolie also filed court papers
accusing Brad Pitt ofallegedly drunkenly attacking her
(30:48):
and their children on aprivate plane in a lawsuit over Chateau
Miraval, a home and vineyardin the south of France that the former
couple owned. Jolie allegedthat while on the flight, Pitt grabbed
her by the head, pulled herinto the plane bathroom and threw
her against the bathroom wall,as well as verbally abused and poured
alcohol on his family duringthe flight from France to la. He
(31:12):
also punched the plane ceilingnumerous times. He also allegedly
lunged at one of the childrenwho was trying to protect their mother,
allegedly grabbing one of hischildren by the throat and striking
another child in the face. Thesix children were aged between eight
and 15 at the time. Theincident was investigated by the
FBI in 2016, but authoritiesdecided not to press charges. It's
(31:36):
worth adding that Pitt hasalways denied Jolie's accusations
of abuse. It's with thisknowledge that the legacy of Mr.
And Mrs. Smith, with all itssexy chemistry and passion, also
conveys a level of violencethat also feels eerily prescient.
Knowing Jolie's accusations ofspousal abuse and the fact that three
(31:56):
of his own children havepublicly denounced him by removing
the surname Pitt from theirnames and retaining the Jolie part,
which speaks volumes about howthey feel about their father's actions
towards their mother. A poston Instagram on Father's Day in 2020
by Pitt and Jolie's secondeldest son, then 16 years old, speaks
(32:18):
volumes calling his father aworld class a hole. Pitt has never
commented about theallegations or about his relationship
with his children, but hasbeen open about his drinking and
drug use. In a May 27GQinterview, Pitt revealed he'd quit
drinking and smoking cannabis,so at least he's taking steps to
be clean and sober. AdamBrody, who I've barely mentioned,
(32:42):
nor have I even reallymentioned, Kerry Washington, who
deserves way better than thismovie, gives up. And Vince Vaughan,
who interestingly isn't listedat all in the end title card credits
but is in the actual list ofcredits. Brody's character Benjamin
the Tank Dans can be seenwearing a Fight Club T shirt while
being questioned by JohnSmith, which is an obvious shout
(33:02):
out to one of Brad Pitt's mostfamous movies. It does beg the question
of who stars in Fight Club inthis universe, but this is a movie
you don't really questionbecause if you do, you realise it
makes no sense. I really likethis movie. I've seen it several
times since it came out, butit hits differently now, no pun intended.
The characters of John andJane are clearly written by a man
(33:26):
in that John is allowed to becomedic whereas Jane is given very
little in the way ofpersonality. That's not stuck up
demanding wife. That bugs me.Also, the plot holes infuriate me
a little. You're telling methis is two of the best spy agencies
in the world competing in thesame city. They know of each other's
existence but have no ideathat their top two agents are married
(33:48):
and when they met they didn'tdo extensive background checks on
each other and the companiesjust let their agent marry someone
who they hadn't checked andJohn's agency didn't know that the
guy paid to act like Jane'sfather was actually an actor. And
after the shootout at ikea,it's not ikea, but it looks like
an ikea. There's norepercussions, they just go back
(34:09):
to the agencies who weretrying to kill them or they destroyed
both agencies or they're stillbeing pursued and just find the time
to have lots of sex and go tocouples therapy while being hunted.
This movie is infuriating, notto mention the fact they both go
out late into the evening.John gets drunk, plays poker and
gets lucky, while Janeassassinates an arms dealer dressed
(34:30):
in black leather and fishnet.AB sails down the building, gets
into a taxi. Great shot, bythe way. I love it. But then both
are back, ready to go to theirneighbour's party straight after.
And we know it's straightafter because Jane is still wearing
the black fishnet tights. Makethe timeline work. Anyway, it's crazy
to me. The one tiny change inthis movie will Smith as John or
(34:53):
Nicole Kidman as Jane and thewhole Brangelina craze ceases to
exist. The butterfly effect ofthis movie is huge. One small decision
changed so many lives andcreated new ones. And now Mr. And
Mrs. Smith exists on TV,slightly different but more fleshed
out. That reminds me, I shoulddefinitely finish season one. Thank
(35:18):
you for listening. As always,I would love to hear your thoughts
on Mr. And Mrs. Smith andthank you for your continued support
of this podcast. If you wantto help this podcast grow and reach
more people, you could tellyour friends and family about this
podcast or about this episode.You could leave a rating or review
wherever you found thispodcast. Or you can find me, follow
me at Verbal Diorama acrossSocial media where you can like post,
(35:42):
share posts and comment onposts. It all helps. If you like
this episode of Mr. And Mrs.Smith, you might also like episode
249, which was one of thosetwo at a time episodes that I mentioned
earlier, which is on LaraCroft Tomb Raider and Lara Croft
Tomb Raider, the Cradle ofLife. And also check out episode
263 on the Bourne Identity,because that goes into a little bit
(36:04):
more of Doug Liman and theDoug Liman of everything. Some of
his movies are genuinelyterrific. Edge of Tomorrow is still
one of the most underratedgems of sci fi that I think ever
exists, but that was a funepisode. So if you enjoyed this one,
you'll also enjoy that one. Asalways, give me feedback. Let me
know what you think of myepisode recommendations. So the next
(36:27):
episode Akiva Goldsman wouldbe a producer on Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
and in 1994 he would breakthrough in screenwriting with the
Client, an adaptation of JohnGrisham's novel of the same name,
directed by Joel Schumacher.In 1995 he would write Batman Forever,
starring last episodesuperstar Val Kilmer, also directed
(36:48):
by Joel Schumacher. He thenworked with schumacher for a third
time writing A Time to Kill.But in 1997, Goldsman collaborated
with Joel Schumacher for afourth time on the topic of the next
episode. It starred GeorgeClooney, Chris o'Donnell, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurmanand Alicia Silverstone. The episode
(37:10):
I did last year on BatmanForever was a huge success, one of
the biggest episodes of theyear. And so it makes complete sense
to do what I set out to dooriginally and finish the original
Batman quadrilogy with Batmanand Robin. So join me next week for
the history and legacy of thatcampy thrill ride that is Batman
(37:33):
and Robin. If you enjoy what Ido for this podcast and you want
to support an indie podcasterwho does literally everything on
her own, if you have somespare change, you can financially
contribute to the upkeep ofthis podcast. This podcast is free
and it always will be free, soyou're under no obligation. However,
if you get value and you havethe means to help, there are a couple
(37:54):
of ways you can help. You canmake a one off donation@verbaldiorama.com
tips or you can subscribe tothe patreon@verbaldiorama.com patreon
all money goes back into thispodcast by paying for software subscriptions,
website hosting or newequipment. And as always, huge thanks
(38:14):
to the incredible patrons ofthis podcast. Simon, Laurel, Derek,
Kat, Andy, Mike, Luke,Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa,
Sam, Jack, Dave, Stuart,Nicholas. So, Kev, Heather, Danny,
Stu, Brett, Philip M. Xenos,Sean, Rhino, Philip K, Adam, Elaine,
Kyle, and Aaron. If you wantto get in touch, you can email verbaldioramail.com
(38:40):
you can say hello, you cangive me feedback or suggestions,
or just go toverbaldiorama.com and fill out the
little contact form. I wouldreally love to hear from you for
any episode of this podcast,but if you enjoyed Mr. And Mrs. Smith,
feel free to get in touch andlet me know.
And finally
(39:55):
Bye.
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