Any soundtrack that kicks off with the J. Geils Band's 1980 hit "Love Stinks," a hooky narrative about the never-ending tribulations of romance, is off to a great start. Surprisingly, the rest of the soundtrack to MR. & MRS. SMITH, a 2005 star vehicle for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, holds up nicely. Many of the songs are about troubled love, a theme that mirrors the film's premise (Pitt and Jolie play married assassins assigned to kill each other). Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," the Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," and the Captain and Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" serve a narrative function then, in addition to being great songs.
Much of the soundtrack consists of covers, and these too come across impressively. Atreyu outdoes Bon Jovi with her version of "You Give Love a Bad Name, while the Voodoo Glow Skulls take on Guns and Roses' "Used to Love Her (But I Had to Kill Her)." There are some tender moments, such as 8mm's Beatles-esque version of "Nobody Does It Better," and Magnet and Gemma Hayes' modernization of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay." All in all, this soundtrack has enough variety, quality, and fun to match the film's box office cache, and--given the great tunes here--to even outlast it.