"To Love, Honor and Assassinate"
by Scott Mantz

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith"
Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie
Directed by Doug Liman

Fight club!  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie make a killer couple in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"

There's nothing like a little free publicity when it comes to promoting a big-budget, high concept Hollywood movie.  That is, unless that publicity is for something other than the movie itself!

Case in point is "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."  Now unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you already know that this is the film that allegedly led to the break-up of one of Hollywood's most popular couples -- Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.  All throughout the film's production, rumors were rampant that the irresistible on-screen chemistry between Pitt and his incredibly sexy co-star Angelina Jolie translated to an even hotter collaboration off-screen -- rumors that were fueled even further by recent photos of the couple at a private African resort.

Of course, that really isn't anyone's business, but as Hollywood history has shown, highly publicized off-screen hook-ups often lead to unrealistic expectations that no film could possibly meet.  After all, if two actors can't keep their hands off each other when the cameras aren't rolling, then naturally, one would have to assume that their mutual passion would easily translate to the big screen, right?

Well, not exactly.  Take 2000's "Proof of Life," in which the behind-the-scenes affair between Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe wound up being the kiss of death for the film at the box office (never mind that it wasn't even very good).  More recently, no amount of heat between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez could have saved the train wreck that was 2003's "Gigli," but perhaps the most enduring example of dysfunctional relationship excess goes to the volatile union between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton while making 1963's epic "Cleopatra."

Fortunately, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" fares much better than all of those films, simply because it's actually a good movie -- not great, mind you, but good.  After all, when you hook up one of the sexiest, best looking actors in the world with one of the sexiest, best looking actresses in the world in an action-oriented summer popcorn movie, you really can't go wrong.  The problem is that while Pitt and Jolie have never been as commercially appealing as they are here, this otherwise slick and sexy film is somewhat marred by a slow pace, scenes of redundancy and routine action sequences.

On the surface, John (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) may look like your average, ordinary suburban couple caught in the throes of a 5-year itch (or 6 years, depending on whom you ask), but they are each hiding a secret that the other would kill for.  They are actually highly paid, incredibly efficient assassins who work for competing organizations, but when a low-level operative (Adam Brody) infiltrates their respective businesses, they soon discover that they've been hired to kill...each other.  Now, Mr. and Mrs. Smith must decide if they're going to stay together "in sickness and in health," or if they're going to give new meaning to the phrase "'til death do us part."

After scoring with critically acclaimed and commercial hits like 1996's "Swingers," 1999's "Go" and 2002's "The Bourne Identity," director Doug Liman stumbles a bit by comparison with "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."  For one thing, it takes a while for the film to get into gear, as scene after scene illustrates -- with diminishing returns -- that John and Jane are clearly having marriage problems.  The humor is more sarcastic than laugh-out-loud funny, the action scenes -- while effective -- don't really offer anything new, and it requires a big leap of faith to believe that such a hot young couple would fall out of love after just a few years of marriage.

Fortunately, the film takes better advantage of its "True Lies" meets "War of the Roses" style premise once the gig is up and they're onto each other.  Sexual tension and chemistry aside, there's a lot of fun to be had watching Pitt and Jolie -- who clearly seem to be having a blast -- lay waste to the idea of domestic bliss with a plethora of gunshots, explosions and brutal fight scenes.  Throw in Vince Vaughn as Pitt's wise-cracking colleague and "The OC's" Adam Brody as the target who brings Pitt and Jolie together, and what you have is a decent summer diversion that's more entertaining than not.

Oh, but back to that hook-up.  Sure, it's hard to watch "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" without being reminded of the alleged affair, but it's a testament to the strengths of the film that it ultimately doesn't distract from the overall experience.  It remains to be seen whether or not the rest of the moviegoing public will agree, but for now, it would seem that all that unwanted publicity paid off after all.

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