Mr & Mrs Smith | Prime Video

OMG so dull. I gave up after a while.

Obviously well made and so on, and it's difficult to say what's wrong with the series. I guess, for me, it is the very obvious lack of synergy between the two leads. Both good actors but together lack that essential spark. They are just not very believable as a couple.

I do wish they would stop picking actors who are seemingly completely random and just unsuitable for the job.
 
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I was extremely critical around the casting of this once it was very first announced and before we knew how this show would actually work vs the film. After watching the first 2 episodes I can say that, whilst I was definitely wrong about how it would work (the TV show isn't a copy/paste of the movie and I actually quite like this TV show idea) I still stand by my casting convictions. I like Glover as an actor but I've never heard of Erskine before (she was in Obi Wan for a few episodes) and so far they just don't "work" for me at all, which I';m assuming (because of Glover) isn't down to the actors abilities but to poor writing/direction.

It's better than I thought it would be but only in the way that a knife in the leg is "better" than gunshot in the leg. The writing as mentioned, which is the downfall of virtually every media that I think is bad/poor, is just as bad as expected. When even the folks who wrote True Lies can write a throwaway "gag" line where Bill Paxton tells JLC "we need to be able to touch each other without flinching if we're pretending we're married" with it sounding authentic to the situation and this new batch of writers for this TV show can't understand that basic concept, then it shows a genuine lack of understanding of reality. I mean going to the trouble of setting these people up with an apartment, weapons, fake ID's, banks etc but then the "agency" not giving them a backstory of how they met, not giving them time to work these details out before doing their first mission is just stupid writing, when could have used something like the first mission message to explain this away, saying "HiHi, we have a time sensitive situation and we need to send you out before you've finished introductions. The assignment is simple........." or similar before actually giving them the mission, just to show some common sense being used within the writing team.

I knew something would be "off" when during the opening credits I saw it had 7 (seven!) producers and co-producers, which means 7 different inputs, 7 different expectations, 7 different decisions on what needs to be done etc, which means those 7 people all need to be in step with each other otherwise the TV show would feel like a pick & mix of scenes and styles and so far thats how it feels to me. I didn't realise it all dropped at once so I'lll finish it off but, from wehat I've read so far, it's probably not going to get any better.
 
Yeah the lack of a convincing "spark" between the 2 main characters doesn't help it at all and the trajectory of certain things through episode 1 goes very differently in episode 2 which I guess is probably down to different producers/directors per episode, etc.

It hasn't grabbed me really but first few episodes were different enough I've stuck with it for now but ultimately feels like it is going to be forgettable.
 
SpellowHouse said:
OMG so dull.
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Halfway through and i'm with you on that.
I'm finding the storylines and writing are messy and sometimes just plain weird, what little comedy it has is really bad and the pacing of each episode to be all over the show to the point where i'm skipping around a lot to find anything of actual interest.
It also irks me slightly that the connection to the original film (so far) is so tenuous that this could have been a standalone show with another title. In fact, i think that would have been better for those of us that have seen the film as we wouldn't have been walking in with expectations.

Currently i'm undecided whether i'll watch the remaining; it's just so boring. And i can't work out why it's getting the reviews it is - maybe i'm not the target audience for this, perhaps i'm just too old or maybe it's because i've seen the film.

Only reason for 2 bananas is because it's shot reasonably well...
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visibleman said:
I'm finding the storylines and writing are messy and sometimes just plain weird, what little comedy it has is really bad and the pacing of each episode to be all over the show to the point where i'm skipping around a lot to find anything of actual interest.

Currently i'm undecided whether i'll watch the remaining; it's just so boring.
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Pretty much where I am too. The only part that "works" for me is what almost seems to be Glover doing "improv" such as when they are in bed together at the end of Ep3 (I think, maybe Ep4) where out of nowhere he asks "did you just fart?" etc and then Erskine did a good job of "Yes And" in return to go with the improv flow and it was funny and endearing. Those little sections of a minute or so each actually feel "real" and are, if these are actually written, whoever is doing the writing needs to do the whole episode like that.

I stopped watching after Ep 4 though, just can't get past the writing issues.
 
5 episodes in and I am enjoying it and finding it quite relaxing, mostly down to the soundtrack.

Not a lot of action in the first 4 episodes and there doesn’t appear to be much planning in getting them setup.
 
Ep7 here, been good so far, still no word on what "the company" is etc. It's also now turned into a marriage counselling episode :p
 
Half way through episode 2, and while absolutely fine and watchable, I find my experience of it slightly tainted after reading the articles about Phoebe Waller Bridge supposed to have been the original co-writer, and it seems she was cast first and then only pushed out when Donglover came on board and then brought his entire team with him. This ended up pushing Phoebe out.

I'm a huge fan of the likes of Fleabag and would love to see her style of comedy in something like this. I'll keep watching, but the writing seems a little forced and I'm not sure about the chemistry. We'll see.
 
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Alright, I finished it, really mixed feelings. Overall it felt really overacted, and I wasn't impressed with Donglover's performance at all.

I wasn't that impressed with Maya either to begin with, but by the end I thought she was pretty good.

It didn't make up for the dreadful overall writing though. The tone of the show flipped flopped so much too.

The episode where the other Smiths came into the picture it felt so contrived and the main Mr and Mrs Smith stood out as unbelievably stupid to be so accepting and run with it. (Although I do love those actual actors and how they portrayed them, they were just very poorly introduced and utilised)

Additionally the Ron Pearlman episode cast him as a big ******* baby, felt so juvenile.

While I probably will watch at least the start of the next season, it's only our of pure curiosity and not because I truly enjoyed the first season. I reaaaaally wish Phoebe Waller Bridge had her way with the series. The final messaging and tone is all over the place as it stands.

Overall, while it had good parts, it wouldn't be a series I would recommend to a friend to watch in it's entirety and and stick it out. Which feel weird, because it had some really good parts...but it just wasn't a good show...
 
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Just realised that the TV series predates the movie, and the synopsis is -
"Two spies are recruited by an intelligence agency. They pose as a married couple Mr. and Mrs. Smith when they are on their missions."

So it is the movie that deviated from original premise, and this is a reboot of the 1996 TV series.
 
Finished it now and to make things worse, it had the kind of ending I dislike from a TV show. The best way is to wrap things up but tease to the next story. To end on a cliffhanger says to me it can't rely on how good the show is to make people want to watch next season... I doubt I'll bother with S2.
 
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