Eye For Film >> Movies >> Mr & Mrs Smith (2005) DVD Review
The 8-minute featurette, entitled Making A Scene, explains how budgetary constraints forced director Doug Liman to re-conceive a scene involving a car chase. We're told how they used a blue-screen for some shots, how a mistake at the processing lab wrecked three nights shooting and we get to see over and over again just how wooden the acting is.
The three deleted scenes are more like extended versions of existing ones. None add anything to the finished film and seemed to me the normal by-products of the editing process, rather than anything that deserves a place among the contents of a DVD extras menu.
There are two commentaries. One from Liman and screenwriter Simon Kinberg, in which Liman bafflingly describes the film as "an action movie with an intelligent spine." The second comes from the two producers, which in itself gives an indication as to where creative authorship of the film really lies. Both commentaries talk about the film's alleged qualities with a passion that veers between self-delusion and desperation. Unless one wants a master class in empty self-promotion, neither is worth listening to.
Reviewed on: 19 Nov 2005