Everyone remembers the tabloid covers. The "Team Aniston" vs. "Team Jolie" shirts that practically defined mid-2000s gossip culture. But if you strip away the private jets, the winery lawsuits, and the six kids, you’re left with the actual work. Honestly, for being the biggest power couple in Hollywood history, they didn't actually share the screen that often.
It’s kinda wild when you think about it. Most people assume there’s a massive catalog of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movies, but there are really only two major feature films where they star side-by-side.
One launched the most talked-about relationship of the century. The other essentially memorialized its end.
The Spark: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
This is the one everyone knows. It’s the "Patient Zero" of Brangelina. If you haven't seen it in a while, it’s easy to forget that Mr. & Mrs. Smith was actually a massive gamble. Director Doug Liman was coming off The Bourne Identity and was known for being, well, a bit chaotic on set.
The premise is basically a metaphor for marriage on steroids. Two bored suburbanites, John and Jane Smith, discover they are both secret assassins working for competing agencies. They get ordered to kill each other. Cue the domestic bliss being interrupted by semi-automatic gunfire.
Why the chemistry felt different
There’s a reason this movie grossed over $487 million worldwide. You’ve probably heard the rumors that they fell in love on set while Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston. Whether you believe the official timelines or not, the "white-hot" chemistry (as critics called it back then) is impossible to fake.
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Look at the scene where they dance the tango in Bogota. Or the house fight where they practically demolish their IKEA-perfect kitchen. It’s not just acting; it’s a palpable energy that defined the 2005 movie-going experience.
- The Casting "What Ifs": Nicole Kidman was originally cast as Jane Smith. She dropped out because of scheduling conflicts with The Stepford Wives. Brad Pitt actually quit the project when Nicole left, but he came back the second Angelina signed on.
- The Realism: They did a lot of their own stunt work. The "gentle" bickering between the gunshots was often improvised, making the relationship feel weirdly relatable despite the whole "professional killer" thing.
The Producer Connection: A Mighty Heart (2007)
Most lists of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movies skip this one because Brad isn’t on screen. But he was the producer.
This was a pivot for them. They wanted to be taken seriously as a creative unit, not just a tabloid fixture. Angelina played Mariane Pearl, the wife of kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl. Brad’s production company, Plan B, spearheaded the project.
It was a heavy, grueling film. Jolie has often said that having Brad there as a producer—not a co-star—allowed her to go to the dark places the role required. It showed that their partnership was as much about "the business" as it was about the romance.
The Sunset: By the Sea (2015)
Fast forward ten years. The world had changed. They were married, they had a small army of children, and they decided to film a "honeymoon" movie.
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Except By the Sea isn't a romantic comedy. It’s a bleak, 1970s-style art-house drama set in France (though they filmed it in Malta). Angelina wrote and directed it. Brad starred as Roland, a hard-drinking writer, and Angelina played Vanessa, his depressed, pill-popping wife.
A marriage in crisis
The movie is slow. Really slow. It’s mostly two beautiful people staring at walls, drinking gin, and spying on the newlyweds in the room next door through a literal peephole.
Critics mostly hated it. They called it a "vanity project." But looking back through the lens of their 2016 divorce, the movie feels eerily prophetic. It’s a raw exploration of grief and marital rot.
"It was our way of seeing what we could do together," Jolie later told the press.
Ironically, she thought working on a film about a failing marriage would help them communicate better in real life. It didn't quite work out that way, but as a piece of cinema, it’s a fascinating, moody time capsule. It’s the total opposite of the high-octane fun of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
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What Most People Get Wrong
You'll often see people claim they were in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Salt together. They weren't. They were very careful about not over-saturating the market with their "couplehood."
They mostly traded off. One would stay home with the kids while the other went to film in some far-flung location. This strategy kept their individual star power high, but it also meant that their joint filmography is surprisingly slim.
The Missing Projects
There were rumors for years about them doing a Mr. & Mrs. Smith sequel, but it never happened. They also reportedly looked at a few thriller scripts in the early 2010s, but Angelina’s move toward directing meant she was more interested in being behind the camera than being Brad’s leading lady again.
Why Their Movies Still Matter
Even though they only made two proper movies together, those films represent the bookends of a Hollywood era.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith represents the peak of the "Movie Star" age—where two people's faces on a poster could guarantee a half-billion-dollar box office. By the Sea represents the shift toward more personal, auteur-driven projects that stars use to process their own lives.
If you’re looking to revisit their work, start with the 2005 actioner for the fun, but don't sleep on By the Sea if you want to see them actually act against each other. The contrast is jarring, but that’s exactly what makes it interesting.
Practical Next Steps for Fans:
If you want to understand their cinematic legacy beyond the gossip, watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith followed immediately by By the Sea. The shift in tone, body language, and "gaze" tells a story that no interview or tabloid article ever could. You can find Mr. & Mrs. Smith on most major streaming platforms like Hulu or Disney+ (depending on your region), while By the Sea often pops up on Netflix or is available for a cheap rental on Amazon.