Summary
Despite a few jokes that land and strong performances by the two leads, this reboot is eight mediocre episodes of squandered potential.
In 2005, a little blockbuster starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was making waves around the tabloids for the off-screen relationship between its two leads. Almost two decades later, Prime Video re-booted Mr. and Mrs. Smith into an eight-episode series about two spies and their marital woes. While somewhat different than the original movie, the series co-written by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover (who also stars in it) does follow the same basic plot line.
Unlike the 2005 movie, where two spies were living together without knowing the truth about each other, the two leads signed up to work together. John and Jane are two lonely individuals with no career prospects matched by an international spy company they know nothing about. They’re promised a well-paid and exciting espionage career in exchange for leaving everything from their old lives behind, including their names.
John and Jane are code names for two strangers who move in together in a fancy New York house. They were both recruited for high-risk work for a spy company and can only communicate with their superiors via text. The missions range from delivering cake to assassinating targets they know nothing about.
Each episode shows the two spies through various relationship milestones intertwined with highly dangerous missions. From their first date (read: mission) to the kids’ talk to socializing, John and Jane experience it all while learning how to get better at the risky job. The series’s main focus isn’t the high-tech spy action sequences (even if there are a couple of those thrown in) but the connection between the two leads and their feelings for one another.
While the characters-first approach promises and occasionally delivers chuckle-worthy moments, the series is slow-paced and quite boring. John and Jane are so caught up in their relationship drama that they never seem to grasp the danger they’re in nor ask enough questions about the disturbing job they agreed to. That’s not to say Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are not delivering convincing performances. The two leads and the chemistry between them are one of the few elements that make the series watchable.
The two supposedly intelligent and educated protagonists come across as far too naive. While this is expected during the first few episodes, it’s irritating to watch towards the end of the series.
Aside from a couple of exceptions, we rarely see the same supporting character more than once. We do get a few fun and notable one-off performances from the likes of Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Sarah Paulson, Ron Perlman, and Alexander Skarsgård. This approach worked well for last year’s Poker Face, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith doesn’t seem episodic enough for it to make sense.
A lot of missed potential
While Mr. and Mrs. Smith isn’t necessarily a bad series, it isn’t interesting enough to keep you invested in its somewhat emotional story. It focuses on relationship drama far too much, but the stakes never seem important enough.
There’s a lot of potential for the series and its concept, but Season 1 is a disappointment. For a rare show Prime Video launches as a binge-able, this isn’t one many will want to watch in one sitting.
