Episode 282 - Mr. & Mrs. Smith

“Happy anniversary, baby.” Join your favorite TransAtlantic podcasting trio – Ian, Liam & Megs (Kev's taking care of some issues in Atlanta) – as we lock and load for our 282nd episode, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Doug Liman’s bullet-riddled marital meltdown Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). We’re trading treasure maps and Pepsi product placement for high-tech arsenals and awkward couples therapy as we discuss:

• At what point exactly did Brad Pitt's & Angelina Jolie's respective existing marriages become doomed
• The world of super spies and just how deep your cover has to be before you forget who you're actually married to.
• We get a guest review from a parent of a podcaster this week—they've certainly chosen a side
• Do our respective genders guarantee a same-gender allegiance or is it up for grabs
• One of us struggles to accept the film’s central conceit (spoiler: it involves assassins, suburbs, and how you manage to create your respective weapons stashes).
• How this film caused a minor international incident
• We ask the big question: Was Brad Pitt a character actor trapped in a movie star’s body all along?
• What’s wrong with the narrative pacing—and why does it feel like the film ran out of bullets before the third act?
• We dive into the ongoing conversation around gender pay equality, especially when both leads aren't marquee stars.
• Is this a great film or just a very stylish couples' argument with body count.
• How much mediocrity can great chemistry overcome
• Whether Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the Best Film Ever

Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at https://www.patreon.com/BFE.

We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

• Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
• Hermes Auslander
• James DeGuzman
• Synthia
• Shai Bergerfroind
• Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
• Andy Dickson
• Chris Pedersen
• Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
• Randal Silva
• Nate The Great
• Rev Bruce
• Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
• Richard
• Ryan Kuketz
• Dirk Diggler
• Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
• NorfolkDomus
• John Humphrey's Right Foot
• Timmy Tim Tim
• Aashrey

Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor.

Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/.