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Today's LAT has a great account of the tensions between Mr. and Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman, our new Hollywood hero, and virtually everyone who steps onto his sets. When Liman (Did we mention he's our new hero? He is.) isn't shooting mismatched "coverage" on a visual whim or driving crews into overtime so that he can play paintball, he's attempting feats of cinematic impossibility, like trying to extract a performance from a part Brad Pitt's body that can't be honed through crunches:

Pitt, who would not comment for this article, was said to have become exasperated with the drawn-out filming. According to one story making the rounds, when Liman at one point urged Pitt to deliver more emotion in his performance, the actor pointed out that Liman was shooting the back of his head. Liman says he doesn't remember that but adds, "I may have been wanting to get more emotion from the back of his head. I probably succeeded."

Mr. and Mrs. Smith will almost certainly be a huge hit. But just imagine what might have been if the mercurial Liman could've found a way to make the part of Pitt's head that delivers dialogue produce an emotion other than, "Let's get this over with so I can get back to banging Angelina Jolie in my trailer."