Mr. & Mrs. Smith (TV show)
Synopsis
The 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith gets the reimagined-as-a-television-series treatment in Amazon Studios’ Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Just like the movie, the series focuses on married spy couple John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) Smith. However, unlike in the film, the marriage here is a farce: the whole reason the pair is married is to carry out deadly assignments together for the same mysterious employer. Despite their marriage initially being strictly work-related, it quickly becomes personal as the couple engages in a genuine romantic relationship with one another, which starts influencing and being influenced by the missions the couple carries out. So given the risk to their lives that each mission poses, the couple’s marriage becomes not only a matter of heart and mind, but also of life and death.
Analysis
First of all, I really enjoyed the series’ unique vibe. The show executes on all the typical elements of a spy thriller well, such as intriguing espionage, intense shootouts, and globe-trotting adventuring. At the same time, Mr. & Mrs. Smith offers its own spin on certain elements to make for more interesting viewing. For instance, while the action may be more grounded and occasionally over-rehearsed, the amount of rawness and unpredictability present will have you at the edge of your seat. David Fleming’s score elevates scenes to the realm of the surreal: music during calm sequences is serene and cerebral, while during intense action scenes the music is more “jungle meets techno” and breezes by at a frenetic pace. I also felt that the show’s embracement of dark humor made it stand out from most spy thrillers, with the result being scenes that were entertaining yet still authentic. What you end up with is a TV series that’s cinematic, immersive, and just, well, different!
On the character front, John and Jane are delightful individually and even better together. Though each character’s set of traits mostly acts as a relationship foil against that of the other (e.g., John is more personable and impulsive compared to Jane being more independent and strategic), good writing and acting make the characters feel genuine; also, the traits are presented in a way that’s clear yet natural. Additionally, the excellent chemistry between the two leads results in John’s and Jane’s interactions with each other feeling authentic. Be the interaction affectionate, hostile, or comedic, Glover and Erskine pair so well together that you stay invested in every scene that the two of them are in. And the funny moments between them are especially enjoyable, since Glover and Erskine are able to lean on comedic sensibilities – including the ability to riff – honed in previous projects to get big laughs.
Finally, the series does a great job exploring John and Jane’s relationship and highlighting how any strong one needs great partnership. On the relationship-exploration front, the aspects of John’s and Jane’s relationship that the series focuses on (e.g., the “meet cute”, first intimate moment, first fight, the “child talk”, etc.) makes their relationship feel organic and well fleshed out. Not only do you become emotionally invested as a result, but anyone who’s ever been in a serious one will easily relate to what John and Jane are going through as well. There’s a natural progression to the relationship as each mission informs the way John’s and Jane’s relationship evolves. And similar to why the characters of John and Jane work well, great writing and chemistry between the two leads makes the relationship feel genuine too. As for the show’s emphasis on the importance of partnership, the series makes this point in how it uses the construct of “the mission”. John and Jane must exercise good partnership along some dimension of their relationship in order to accomplish each task they’ve been assigned. So, they must work as a cohesive unit, which demands them listening to, placing their trust in, and even making compromises for one another. And the life-and-death stakes of each mission amplifies the importance of the partnership to the relationship. The dual focus on relationship exploration and emphasis on partnership culminates in an emotional bang of a finale, wherein John and Jan’s relationship arrives at resolution as the series beautifully makes clear the most essential ingredient of a good partnership and – consequentially – relationship.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is so good that I think it deserves the title of the pinnacle Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The series has a great vibe to keep you entertained, fantastic characters to care about, and its exploration of the couple’s relationship and analysis of what makes for a strong one is both effective and heartfelt. So as far as TV remakes of movies goes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is the cream of the crop. No notes!