Mr and Mrs Smith: Prime Video Review
If you're expecting spy hijinks aplenty in the 2024 version of Mr and Mrs Smith, you may need to adjust your expectations and lower the bar.
While it's fair to say they are the backbone of this eight part series that's releasing all in one go, they're not the main raison d'etre for this series from Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover - in fact at times, they are more incidental than front of mind.
What Mr and Mrs Smith's 2024 version is all about is the relationship between Glover's John Smith and Maya Erskine's Jane, and while it has it ups and downs on that front, this slickly produced and polished show is watchable enough fare that feels of its era.
What's most impressive about the show is the calibre of talent involved - from John Turturro to Paul Dano, Sharon Horgan to Alexander Skarsgard and Ron Perlman, the guest list is just impeccable and utterly impressive.
But the show's more about the dance between the two central leads and most of the spy hijinks in each episode serve to heighten the tensions between the duo or press the distance between them as their relationship grows and crumbles.
Consequently some of the episodes feel like cursory filler (a weird touch given it's only 8 in total) and the final episode's conclusion really does frustrate for reasons way too spoilery to explain at this stage. Yet what emerges is a more curious experiment into what a 2024 series could look like, rather than a fully-formed idea in parts.
While it is a story of underdogs in some ways, of lonely souls trying to connect under pressure and out of necessity. Interestingly, Glover's John feels more sinister than Erskine's Jane, his every move feeling just somehow a little creepier and unsettling when negotiating the burgeoning relationship. It's not always entirely successful, and is something of an issue due to the show's pacing and the narrative necessity to get where it needs to.
However, this series is definitely Erskine's for the taking and she does so incredibly.
Demonstrating more of a range than perhaps a reined-in Glover, Erskine saddles the tricky line between wary of the human side of the job and killer competency for the spy side of proceedings. It's perhaps here the script's social sides come to the fore - a sly commentary on women in relationships being more measured rather than the boisterous headfirst approach of men.
But while the series skimps on the action that was present in the 2005 Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie vehicle, it's more about the relationships, with the spy plots feeling more incidental to proceedings and usually serving as a parallel to the pair's partnership ups and downs.
Ultimately, while it is slick and stylish and with a guest cast to die for, the 2024 redo of Mr and Mrs Smith may add much to the more nuanced layers of the drama, but it does occasionally lack a high-powered spark that will keep you engaged. But if you're more interested in the human dynamics, this series does have a propensity to surprise.
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