Mr. and Mrs. Smith!!

[permetaform]

Oh god, I LOVED that!

Granted it was semi-predictable because I adore action films, and to an extent you can predict their narrative formula in the same way that I can mostly predict all fic except for the brief moments that string the story together. But ohhh! The execution was marvelous! It's very much a character study by way of actions and reactions and me and lierdumoa were discussing what an absolute joy this would be to vid because the expressions were so perfectly placed, with *just* the right amount of over-expression to get the idea across to enough of the audience so that they'd be able to cue in people who were lost.

I remember reading that one of the greatest gifts that Hitchcock ever gave the spy genre was by replacing the narrative position of the Hero with a couple; where it might be the Hero Against the World with an Angsty Internal Struggle became a dialogue between two people and their dynamics of trust and love and duty. This was very much in play in this movie and refreshing to see it reaching a sort of balance between two rough equals.

Even though I could see feminists arguing that there still are, yet, troubling undertones in some of how females are represented, I think that if one tries to arrange the movie in any other way, there would definately be even *worse* undertones. (ie. Jolie being the weepy female instead of Pitt being the sensitive guy, etctera. Also some the Jolie-as-domestic-wife / Pitt-as-toolshed-husband dynamic is part of the the unspoken jokes of them being perfect uppermiddleclass WASPs, and even though that plays into the whole patriarchal sterotype...that's kinda, like, the point)

In any case, I thought the movie a perfectly delightful romp, that was in turns beautiful visually and hot and funny and cute and explody. It was subtle in a way that most of the audience *gets* it; in which the great plodding difficulty about subtlety is that by definition some people aren't going to get it, so that a movie that manages to be simultaneously non-explict and yet perfectly obvious and YET non-campy is something very rarely seen and very much appreciated by me. The only way it might have been better was if, say, Angelina Jolie was replaced by Johnny Depp.

But one can't have everything.

Poop.

Comments

[xoverau.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeee.

Okay, I'm thinking I may have to go to that tomorrow.

[permetaform]

yes! It's a joy to watch, and it kept me dreaming for awhile afterward in the movie-created world

[xoverau.livejournal.com]

*bounces off to check ticket times*

[guede-mazaka.livejournal.com]

The only way it might have been better was if, say, Angelina Jolie was replaced by Johnny Depp.

But one can't have everything.

Poop.

I love you.

Right then, after physics is out of my life, go see this.

[permetaform]

YAY!!!!

[luminosity]

We went to see it last night too, and it was great (not Shakespeare great, but I had more fun watching this than RotS--go figger). Of course, I had to deal with my husband being unable to breathe when AJ took off her business coat, but small potatoes, right? :) I loved the way it was framed with the counseling sessions. bwahaha!

It was *not* a film. It was a popcorn movie. And a lot of fun.

[permetaform]

omg, the counseling sessions...and how John Smith was just postitively glowing with boy-ish glee and like "ask me about the sex!"

[nightengale.livejournal.com]

*blinks at title*

*reads under cut*

Oh. You're *not* talking about my parents. Psh, movies. I don't watch those...^^;

*shuffles off again*

[permetaform]

but it's a hilarious mooooovie with sniping and snark and strong female character and hot fight-sex!

[nightengale.livejournal.com]

and eight-twenty-five tickets. >_>;;

*hugs you just 'cause*

[permetaform]

ah. matinee showing??

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Now that I've gotten past regular squeeage to some self-analysis:

Both leads are trickster figures. One is goofy, and one vindictive, but still, both fit. The more I think about it, the more they remind me of Luffy/Nami, only John's not quite as clueless. I should add him to my post on adult examples of the Goku syndrome. Tho, it's not so much that he's loudmouthed and obnoxious as that his wife finds him so.

Love the genre blending. A ton of action in what is essentially a dramatic comedy.

This is the kind of fic I've been writing for the past two months (and not finishing or posting -- bad me). Quirky relationship dynamics + sex (be it car porn or partial nudity or exploding phallic missiles -- in my own writing I've have been less metaphorical about it).

I liked the token gay person, though call her what she was. I was like, she's cute -- hmmm, hope she doesn't end up having a crush on John. Oh! Good.

OMG BRAD PITT'S ABS. I would have loved the movie just for that.

Comic relief did his job well. Not too obvious about it. I liked the director's grasp of subtle, not just with the main characters, but with everything, you know? Made the whole movie.

Also, yes John did say he loved his wife to the psychiatrist. Neither ever said it to the other's face. Except that they said it constantly throughout the movie.



Odd. In character comparisons, all my brain is coming up with is anime characters. I don't know if that's because I'm obsessed or because they're really that unique among live action character types.

[permetaform]

Oh you're right! I hadn't realized they were trickster figures, but then I guess isn't the assasin character itself part of the trickster archetype? Actually tho, I think John fits more into the trickster archetype, Jane I see more as the classic anti-hero with minions (but a damn cool one!), like Lucy Liu's character in Kill Bill.

And not only sex, but angsty-brutal-fightsex!

THE ABS! =D

::ponders:: I think unique because the villain archetype is not only female but in the narrative position of the hero and is forced to go lone-wolf buddy cop with the lone-wolf (also in narrative position of the hero) who, GASP! REFUSES TO BROOD.

...ohhh. Y'know. that makes sense. I will have to think on this more...

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie last night with my mom, and I also loved it. Very funny, very sexy, and oddly sweet. I really liked it. Two thumbs up! *grins*

[permetaform]

::nods:: it's such a random mix, but oddly enough it works out well, which is more than I can say for most genre mixes!

[queen-yokozuna.livejournal.com]

The only way it might have been better was if, say, Angelina Jolie was replaced by Johnny Depp.


DUDE. ILU. SERIOUSLY. ♥

[permetaform]

::grins and bows::

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

I loved this movie! Snappy dialogue, awesome action, enough high-tec eyecandy to make *anyone* orgasm, and -- most important of all -- the chemisty between BD and AJ. The entire "I can't kill you" scene wouldn't have worked if those sparks hadn't been there.

[permetaform]

I know! it's almost really that there's no way to spoil for the movie because it's all about the interaction and the chemistry!

[wildelamassu.livejournal.com]

I went to see this last night with a large group, and everybody liked it, which is very rare. Thanks for the rec. ^^

Also? I loved the Big Meaningful Destruction of the suburban house and the "Home Made" store not to mention the mmmguh sexy, because yeah, well.

[permetaform]

=D np! And yes, the fight!sex! Finally!!! fightsex in a wide-distribution! =D