More like Mr. and Mrs. Sexy

Many forests and tropical jungles have been criminally felled in order to give maximum coverage to the 'Bradgelina' phenomenon - a reason in and of itself for avoiding current summer blockbuster Mr. and Mrs. Smith. However, something funny happened on the way to Gigli-esque infamy ... the movie turned out to be a rather well done piece of satire that is also a silly, fun romp of an action movie.John and Jane Smith are an 'average' American suburban couple, average here being a word that means 'rich and Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie sexy, but still discontented with their lives.'

However, aside from the real emotions that the couple keeps from each other, they also both happen to be two of world's top assassins, unbeknownst to the other. John and Jane Smith soon discover each other's true identities and try to take each other out, which of course only arouses the passion and sparks that initially drew them to each other in the first place. They then join forces to survive when they both become the target of their respective companies when they refuse to snuff each other out.

Though comparisons to his previous venture into the action blockbuster genre will more likely be made, director Doug Liman infuses the script by Simon Kinberg (who also wrote this Spring's XXX: State of the Union) with an ironic flair that is more in tune with his psychotropic club-kid joyride Go than the comparatively more somber The Bourne Identity. And that's not a bad thing. The film is essentially one big sitcom, though at least it is a funny one with sexy stars.

Pitt and Jolie work phenomenally well together. Each masterfully blends comic timing with simmering listlessness and dissatisfaction with suburban life. The movie would be nothing without a believable and involving relationship between the leads, and though occasionally contrived, Pitt and Jolie deliver. Vince Vaughn has also perfected his Vince Vaughn-ishness as Pitt's associate, though he has freshened up his schtick with a pretty funny loser angle this time. The O.C.'s Adam Brody also shows up to act all Seth-y and ironic in a Fight Club T-shirt as a target that both John and Jane are hired to kill, though even his character gets a fun development by the end of the movie.

The rest of the supporting cast is pure window dressing, most noticeably Jane's inexplicable all-female agency and two bizarre, barely-there appearances by Angela Bassett and Keith David as John and Jane's bosses, which are distracting and sort of infuriating when you know that whole sub-plots involving the two talented and always interesting actors have been left on the cutting room floor.

In fact the couple's jobs as assassins are extremely underdeveloped. There is no clear explanation or exploration of who either of them work for, what their agencies' purposes are or even evidence that John and Jane are as ruthless and cunning as killers as the movie wants us to believe. They are both too cuddly to be taken too seriously as deadly, which is okay because the movie's basic premise is that the married couple is leading separate, more exciting lives without the other.

Though featuring many impressive and exciting action sequences, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is first and foremost a comedy, and a good one at that, thanks to winning performances and Liman's direction of Kinberg's clever script. The film doesn't have much of a story going for it, but when immensely pleasurable scenes like the POV shots of John and Jane in marriage counseling that bookend the movie are as funny as they are, a sly and confident exploration of the quirks of a long term relationship amidst impressively choreographed action more than makes up for plot-holes you could park an In Touch delivery van in.