When you finish watching Killers (2010) on Amazon Prime, the next movie it suggests is Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).  While not exact copies, the two are similar enough to make you wonder why anyone in Hollywood thought the former needed to come so soon after the latter.  Between them, I would take the latter, and part of my reasoning here is the title.  I had prepared to introduce Killers by saying that it is an uncomfortable sounding name for a Catholic reviewer to discuss.  This was before I was reminded as to how this romantic action-comedy is like a few other titles.  You do not have to be Catholic to know that honesty is the best policy, whether you are talking about film content or real life.  You will see why this is important as we go along.

Recently single Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) is along for the ride with her parents, who are vacationing in Nice, France, as we start Killers.  In addition to being sad about the break-up, she is not thrilled about being with mom (Catherine O’Hara) and dad (Tom Selleck) despite the free trip.  There is another person in the South of France, and that is the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) contract assassin Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher).  He tracks his target to the same hotel at which the Kornfeldts are staying, and he meets Jen shortly after her arrival.  He is on his way to the beach, shirtless, but she awkwardly walks in the same direction and they chat as they go.  Their interaction turns into a dinner invitation.  This means that while he does more of his spy work in the harbor, she goes shopping for something to wear for the evening.  As they are sitting down, Mr. and Mrs. Kornfeldt walk past, and Jen tries to hide from them.  Spencer is amused by her behavior, and they end up back in her room.  It looks like things might be going in an un-Catholic direction, but she falls asleep as he is trying to explain his real profession.  Nonetheless, they end up spending all their time together, and it looks as if they are falling in love.  One person who objects to their romance is Holbrook (Martin Mull), Spencer’s CIA handler.  Watching Jen and Spencer as they are at a café, Holbrook summons his charge.  As soon as they are in private, Spencer says he is done with the life of espionage, but Holbrook warns that this might have repercussions.  Once the Kornfeldts and Spencer are back in the United States, he asks Mr. Kornfeldt for permission to marry Jen.  It takes some convincing, but Jen’s father agrees.  We then move ahead three years and Jen and Spencer have settled into comfortable suburban lives.  He has his own construction company and she works in technology.  Though it is his birthday the next day, he surprises her with a remodeled home office.  In turn, she gives him a gift despite an apparent agreement not to do so: tickets to Nice where they first met.  His response is not the jubilation for which she hoped, so she shifts to doing something local.  At work, she is told that she will be needing to take a business trip to leave tomorrow, but she talks her boss into letting her stay over the weekend.  To keep up the charade, though, she gets Mr. Kornfeldt to agree to take Spencer out for her birthday because she will be gone.  As these plans are being made, Spencer gets a shock phone call from Holbrook wanting to meet.  These are the potential repercussions, and it has Spencer being extra vigilant for attackers as he drives home with a suspicious Mr. Kornfeldt.  Upon their arrival, it turns out to be a surprise party with all their friends present.  One of these, Spencer’s co-worker Henry (Rob Riggle), grotesquely sprawls on the couch and is there in the morning.  At this point, even Jen can tell that her husband is on edge, and she returns instead of going to the airport for her flight.  She walks into the house mid-brawl between Henry and Spencer, the former of whom is the first in a line of many eponymous people hired to terminate the retired assassin.  A stunned Jen and Spencer manage to subdue Henry, and we learn that there are several people around who have been brought in to end Spencer’s life.  A chase scene ensues, which concludes with Henry’s death.  Seeking answers, Spencer tracks down Holbrook, but they find the one-time boss dead.  It is at this point that Jen finally pukes, and they take time out of their busy staying alive schedule to take a pregnancy test.  This is done at Spencer’s office, where he has to fend off a number of other people out to get him.  Once the smoke clears here, Jen announces that she is with child and decides to leave over his protests that he will protect her.  She does not go far, though, and a moment’s reconsidering has her coming back in time to save him from yet another attempt on his life.  The only decision left to make is to leave, though she wants to go to her parents.  Not wanting to get them involved, they return to their house where he has what all one-time spies seem to have: a “go bag” full of money, passports, and weapons.  Unfortunately, the time they choose to get there coincides with the neighborhood block party, which means their presence is noticed by many of their neighbors.  Hence, there is a bunch more fighting that takes place.  The only unexpected moment in all this is when Mr. and Mrs. Kornfeldt appear.  Once all the assailants are taken care of, Mr. Kornfeldt admits that he also once was an employee of those deadly government agencies, and had misjudged Spencer.  Remarkably, Spencer forgives his father-in-law for trying to kill him, as does Jen.  We then move forward to after the birth of the baby and everything appears to be back to normal.

Of course, “normal” is a relative term to use in relation to Killers, unless you are routinely dealing with CIA agents and shootouts.  The lying and violence are two reasons why it is a difficult sell to get a Catholic to be involved in spy craft, although I am sure there are plenty who do so anyway.  Because this is out-of-the-ordinary, even if there are other movies like it, there is not a ton to say about it from a Catholic perspective.  The one theme to focus on is whether a person can ever change.  It is Holbrook’s opinion early on that Spencer will always be one of the title people.  Later, it is Mr. Kornfeldt who shares this opinion.  What makes a difference is Spencer’s desire to change.  Interestingly, this theme came up today as I was giving spiritual direction.  What separates a Christian from an atheist is the desire to want to know God.  It is a slow and uneven process that has frustrated many who have attempted it, but we are incapable of growing in our relationship with God unless we want to do so.  Given how much training we are told Spencer has received, as well as the work he did while in the CIA, it is easy to see how Holbrook and Mr. Kornfeldt are incredulous that Spencer can be anything other than an assassin.  Nurture matters, and Catholicism aligns with this principle.  At the same time, the Faith will tell you that there are seasons to our lives, and that who we are at one point in our lives will be different than who we are at another time.  The through line in it is God.  For Jen and Spencer, it is their relationship, and then their pregnancy.  That is good, too, but it is better with God.

“Better” is another word that is difficult to connect with Killers because it is a pretty standard movie as these things go.  When discussing spy plots, I often say that had these people been honest from the beginning, there would have been no film.  In this case, maybe that would have been a good thing?