Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Brad and Angelina help each other out.

Herald rating: * * * *

The signs weren't good. Too many headlines about all that other did-they-didn't-they stuff. A shonky premise that could have sprung from a studio brainstorming session that suggested genetically engineering War of the Roses, Prizzi's Honor and True Lies.

Or how about the fact that when either the sexiest man or the sexiest woman alive pick up a weapon, it never turns out for the best - exhibit A, Troy; exhibit B, Tomb Raider?

But well, fancy that. Bradgelina have gone and made a film that is funny, frequently thrilling and finds time for the two to generate some on-screen chemistry - when they're not ignoring each other over the dinner table or blasting the hell out of each other.

It helps that director Liman remembered that Pitt is one funny goof when he's not forced to be a leading man, and Jolie neatly carries her half of the joke throughout.

It all falls apart at the end plot-wise and it's got one action spectacular too many, which comes at the expense of its other job - being a black romantic comedy about a couple of married folks who have lost that spark. But it's still a lot of fun as we follow John and Jane Smith, who lead lives secret from each other as assassins for hire.

That's until their shadowy employers want them to knock each other off.

Given the simmering discontent of their married life, both take to the assignment with little regret. That's until, inevitably, they reconcile their differences and end up swapping gunplay for foreplay.

But only after giving each other a frightening kicking in what is the most grimly funny scene in the film.

This movie comes well accessorised. It's as if Liman, who played down the high-tech spy wizardry on his two Bourne movies, has gone for full 007 excess to match the outlandish premise.

Likewise, the dialogue is set to rapid-fire, with Vince Vaughn, as Pitt's fellow motormouth killer-for-hire, a hilarious sideshow of his own.

Not many movies featuring relationship counselling scenes come with such a body count.

But Mr. and Mrs. Smith neatly marries shoot 'em up excess with sexy screwball wit, while delivering a whole new meaning to that thing about death do us part.

CAST: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt
DIRECTOR: Doug Liman
RATING: M (Violence & sexual references)
RUNNING TIME: 120 mins
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley from Thursday