Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005, Doug Liman)

Curiously lifeless. Kudos to Liman for finding a way of directing an action flick (like The Bourne Identity) that doesn't feel like it's from the Bruckheimer mold -- something he does with quiet moments and little details sets it apart from the others. But I knew it wasn't working during the dinner scene that leads to the big Pitt/Jolie fight (where they know the other is an enemy agent but aren't sure if the other knows they know... anyway) because a) we're sympathetic (as much as we can be, see the next point) towards both of these characters, and we know it's all going to work out anyway, so the tension is seriously muted; and b) there isn't much to these characters to really care about to begin with. I'm sure this script read well -- one can enjoy, intellectually, how the action tropes are used as metaphors for the couple's marriage -- but on the screen it's pretty empty and joyless, especially as the Smiths' marriage begins to gain meaning and joie de vivre. Doesn't help that Pitt, for me, still reads as a little boy and not an adult, making the relationship difficult to buy in the first place.