Grade: A- | Genre: Comedy/Action Summary: Mr. & Mrs. Smith takes the old adage that "love is war" and riddles it with bullets until it is delicate Swiss cheese. This is a highly enjoyable film that gets more laughs than I would have thought possible. How long has the media storm surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie been pounding us? It must be close to absolute fever pitch with the release of their long awaited film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Why everyone cares so much about their personal lives is beyond me, but on the same thought trying to get through this review without connecting it back to everyone's favorite non-couple is about impossible. So I'm going to go ahead and get this dirty business out of the way. Pitt and Jolie are two uber attractive people who look comfortable together. He with his suave Ocean's Eleven charm and good looks; her with that exotic, confident sexuality. There are sparks splintering all over the place when they are sharing the screen, and in this film, Jolie looks about as tempting as anything I've seen. With that out of the way, let's dig into this delicious film that curiosity alone will force everyone into the theatres.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith are either the most boring couple you'd ever want to meet or the most exciting -- all depending on how you look at it. We first meet these two in the opening credit sequence as they talk with a psychiatrist about their fizzling marriage. We find they are passively killing each other with the words they don't say, and the relationship that once was has disintegrated long ago. Secretly, they are both spies working for competing firms, unaware of the other's true profession. How each firm has managed to keep the intel of their true identity out of the prying hands of the other is a complete mystery, but with these spy dramas you have to cut reality a lot of slack if you want to last longer than 10 minutes. When they come together at the end of a tiring day, they bicker over the new drapes without raising a voice and John comments on how the green in the peas really add new color to their dinner. When they break apart to go to work, they are lethal killing machines, socially acceptable sociopaths living life on the edge. How can you expect the humdrum existence of suburban BBQs and bake sales to really offer anything when you've been free climbing all day?

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Starring: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Adam Brody, Vince Vaughn & Angela Bassett Director: Doug Limen View the Trailer (Quicktime). You may also like... True Lies Ocean's Eleven War of the Roses Email this article to a friend

I've heard reports that Nicole Kidman had originally signed on to play Mrs. Smith, but had to pull out for some undisclosed reason. Can you imagine how that one flip decision has changed the celebrity world of the last six months? If she had stayed on, the tabloid trash wouldn't have had anything more interesting to report on other than Lindsay Lohan's magically dropping weight. Nicole Kidman couldn't have pulled this part off. Angelina is perfect as the tough as nails, spy agent. In the bruising fight scenes when she goes toe-to-toe with Mr. Fight Club, you really believe that she has a serious shot of taking him out ("Whose your daddy now?"). In this picture, she is hotter than a spicy tamale sitting on the asphalt in July. No married man should ever be tempted with something of that caliber. The poor guy has zero chance. Shouldn't that count as extenuating circumstances in a divorce? Lawyer: "Yes, your honor. My client has always been faithful to his wife, but he was working with Angelina Jolie and..." Judge: "Angelina Jolie! Are ya' kidding me? There's no case here, no man can possibly resist her. Case dismissed due to temporary insanity on the part of the defendant." Both our leads are very believable in these Alias-esque roles, and they are magnetic together. In taking these characters through the non-traditional route of being settled in a bland marriage then lighting the wick of passion by letting them kill each other creates a nice reversal of the traditional approach to rekindling love lost.

Vince Vaughn shows up as John's business partner. In the few moments of screen time that he's afforded, he takes it hostage, wielding his patented fast talking comic bravado much like he did in Limen's Swingers. Vaughn can be uneven at times, but he seems to have found a good vehicle for his comic jabs in Smith. The humor in this film is very potent and understated. I've never really seen Pitt and Jolie as comedic forces, but Limen found the perfect approach to pull out their hidden gifts.

This picture's largest liability is a plot littered with monstrous holes. How do you explain the fact that they were each spies without having a clue that the other was? Wouldn't the wifey get a little suspicious when you are building huge weapon depot below the tool shed? Also the believability that any man could be bored with Angelina in full dominatrix dress is incredulous. I wanted so badly to take a hefty lug wrench and tighten this story to help it live up to its potential. It is also very formulaic in its approach. You see every plot turn coming long before the director twists the wheel. Surprisingly for all its script problems, the dialog exchanged is witty and devilishly clever and helps to cover over a lot of the problem area inherent around it. When Mr. & Mrs. Smith trade verbal barbs, the sting is just as powerful as when they are throwing each other through walls. You believe these two have hit the mother load of marriage roadblocks where spitting hateful bile at one another is so much easier than finding the loving words.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith takes the old adage that "love is war" and riddles it with bullets until it is delicate Swiss cheese. In many respects, the film is quite reminiscent of True Lies without the cheesy dialog that seems mandatory in Schwarzenegger films. It definitely has more than a little War of the Roses mixed in as the Smith's obliterate their home in the attempt to kill one another. This is a highly enjoyable film that gets more laughs than I would have thought possible. The action sequences were dead on and could give Jason Bourne a serious run for his money. Its plot problems are covered over quietly by a sharp dialog and the irresistible energy present between Pitt and Jolie. Put simply, this is the perfect date movie. Guys get the explosive action and the ridiculously hot Angelina. The ladies get a clever romantic comedy fully equipped with stylishly suave Brad Pitt.