Mr. and Mrs. Smith is one of Alfred Hitchcock's rare forays into the comedy genre.[1][2] It details the turmoil a couple goes through in the aftermath of learning that their marriage license (issued in Idaho, no less) wasn't valid. The description at Netflix says:
My verdict: It is inevitable that when confronted with relationship advice, it is bad advice. And the protagonist inevitably takes it. But I suppose without bad advice from idiot friends or getting stuck in outlandish and completely inescapable compromising situations [4], that the romantic comedy genre wouldn't exist at all. Nonetheless, David takes some bad advice and after that's gone sour, manages to make a general nuisance of himself. He really becomes quite pathetic. The ending didn't really make sense, either. After everything else David tried, why did pushing Ann down into a chair and taking off his tie change her mind? Hitchcock certainly produced better films than this one.
Notes:
[1] The only other that I'm aware of is The Trouble with Harry.
[2] It is a screwball comedy and is unrelated to the 2005 film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
[3] See http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Mr.-Mrs.-Smith/70002885?strkid=187831923_1_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strackid=49c11b1db520c335_1_srl&trkid=222336.
[4] These also require that their true loved one, who catches them in the compromising situation, will immediately and unbendingly refuse to communicate about what they just saw.
After three years of highs and lows in a mercurial nuptial, the two discover they aren't truly married after all. David hesitates sealing the deal for real, which drives Ann to the arms of the straight-laced Jeff. Is a happily-ever-after not meant to be?[3]Thus it was with some surprise that the movie turned out to be quite the opposite: Ann hesitates to seal the deal, hoping, instead to "trade in for a better model". The remainder of the film is about David trying to get back into Ann's good graces.
My verdict: It is inevitable that when confronted with relationship advice, it is bad advice. And the protagonist inevitably takes it. But I suppose without bad advice from idiot friends or getting stuck in outlandish and completely inescapable compromising situations [4], that the romantic comedy genre wouldn't exist at all. Nonetheless, David takes some bad advice and after that's gone sour, manages to make a general nuisance of himself. He really becomes quite pathetic. The ending didn't really make sense, either. After everything else David tried, why did pushing Ann down into a chair and taking off his tie change her mind? Hitchcock certainly produced better films than this one.
Notes:
[1] The only other that I'm aware of is The Trouble with Harry.
[2] It is a screwball comedy and is unrelated to the 2005 film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
[3] See http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Mr.-Mrs.-Smith/70002885?strkid=187831923_1_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strackid=49c11b1db520c335_1_srl&trkid=222336.
[4] These also require that their true loved one, who catches them in the compromising situation, will immediately and unbendingly refuse to communicate about what they just saw.
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