Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Composed by John Powell

01 - Bogota (1:36)

02 - The Bedroom (1:09)

03 - Playing House (1:34)

04 - Assignments (1:11)

05 - His and Her Hits (2:45)

06 - Office Work (2:08)

07 - Desert Foxes (2:36)

08 - John and Jane's Identity (2:00)

09 - Dinner (4:13)

10 - Hood Jump (1:44)

11 - Mutual Thoughts (1:01)

12 - John Drops In (2:29)

13 - Tango De Los Asesinos (4:26)

14 - Two Phone Calls (1:51)

15 - Kiss and Make Up (1:52)

16 - Minivan Chase (2:12)

17 - Shopping Spree (4:19)

18 - Dodging Bullets (1:20)

19 - The Next Adventure (3:28)

01 - Love Stinks • The J. Geils Band (3:36)

02 - Nothin' But A Good Time • Poison (3:44)

03 - Tainted Love • Soft Cell (2:41)

04 - Baby, Baby • Alana D (3:14)

05 - Express Yourself (Mocean Worker Remix) •

       Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd

       Street Rhythm Band (4:31)

06 - Mondo Bongo •

       Joe Strummer & The Mecaleros (6:13)

07 - Lay Lady Lay •

       Magnet featuring Gemma Hayes (4:39)

08 - I'll Melt With You • Nouvelle Vague (4:02)

09 - Nobody Does It Better • 8mm (4:56)

10 - Let's Never Stop Falling in Love •

       Pink Martini (3:01)

11 - Assassian's Tango • John Powell (4:02)

12 - Used to Love Her (But I Had to Kill Her) •

       Voodoo Glow Skulls (2:36)

13 - You Are My Sunshine • Stine J. (2:22)

14 - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin •

       The Righteous Brothers (3:42)

15 - Making Love Out of Nothing at All  •

       Air Supply (5:41)

16 - You Give Love a Bad Name •

       Atreyu (3:18)

17 - Love Will Keep Us Together •

       Captain & Tennille (3:22)

Total Running Time: 65:49

Orchestrated by Brad Dechter, Bruce Fowler, Randy Kerber,

                              and Mark McKenzie

Conducted by Pete Anthony and Mark Watters

Performed by The Hollywood Studio Symphony

Produced by John Powell

Released by Lakeshore Records on June 28th, 2005 (score)

                                                               June 7th, 2005 (soundtrack)

     It’s hard to decide exactly where to begin with this score. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as a film, is a nice parody of the spy genre. Essentially, Doug Liman (of Bourne Identity fame), took the formula that made his breakout film so fun to watch and spiced it up with comedy. This mix I found to be quite enjoyable, yet some critics apparently missed the point. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is in no way intended to be a straight spy film as Austin Powers is not a rival to the James Bond franchise. Instead, Liman’s film is a classier send-up to the genre, and one that was great fun to watch.

     It makes sense that Liman would team up with John Powell again to provide the score for this film. Powell has had nothing short of a stellar career, beginning with his collaborations with Harry Gregson-Williams (AntZ, Chicken Run), and following strongly on such notable solo efforts as The Bourne Identity and The Italian Job. With each successive score upping the enjoyment factor notch by notch, Mr. and Mrs. Smith would seem to be a score to greatly look forward to. And in this regard, Powell certainly doesn’t disappoint.

     It says something when a film of this nature, filled with gunfire and explosions, can still make a lasting impression music-wise. I was sure that Powell had probably done the score, but I waited through the end credits just to make sure. After such, I knew I had to have a copy. To have those thoughts running through my head after hearing a score within a film mix, you know it has to have something. And now, having listened to it for three days straight, I’d like to get it out of my head, if only for a little while. The score is a combination of The Italian Job and AntZ style-wise. There is even a nice nod to some of the more off-beat sections of action music from AntZ in the “Minivan Chase”. The moments that nod towards Powell’s earlier works are quite fun and very welcome in the context of the score. The AntZ moments, while few, effectively work in giving the action sequences more of a tongue-in-cheek feel. Indeed, the almost whimsical style that Powell uses makes this the kind of score that is tense, exciting, and light-hearted all at the same time. It is a wonderful combination, and one that I would like to hear more of.

     The opening cue “Bogota” serves as the foundation. Apparently, since Mr. and Mrs. Smith themselves met in this South American capitol, their themes are intertwined with a Latin style. This is the primary style that allows Powell to really branch out in this new direction, and the results are very good. The opening tracks, which should easily have been filler to skip over, never fall into that. The Latin moments are so fun (approaching the level of what Horner accomplished for The Mask of Zorro) that practically every track on this album is worth listening to.

     Released by Lakshore Records in two flavors, the song compilation album is actually better than what we usually get for this sort of thing, with many classic song selections that accurately reflect the mood of the film. There is even the catchy tango piece that Powell composed for the film. True soundtrack purists will undoubtedly go with the score album, but for those who enjoyed the songs in the film, the other album will make for a nice addition to any traveling CD collection.

     Simply put, if you’ve enjoyed any of Powell’s previous scores then pick this CD up with no hesitation. It is simply a continuation and a maturation of his greatly enjoyable work.      

See Also

                                        Score Release                          

                           Soundtrack Release