"Prizzi's Honor" meets "The War of The Roses," with a hearty dash of "True Lies" and a splash of Pierce Brosnan's "007."

Rating: Null/10 (8 June 2005)

Beware Possible Spoilers.
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a great summer popcorn movie. Sexy, top-line actors play out a battle- of-the-sexes-themed black comedy where both sexes just happen to be spies/hit men for shady quasi-governmental intelligence agencies, all the while keeping these identities secret from their suburban neighborsand each other! There are scenes of high-tech surveillance, blazing "Matrix" style gunfire, hair-raising aerial escapes high over New York City, a novel twist on the average car chase and long glimpses of boring domestic bliss like dragging the lawnmower back into the shed during a rainstorm. In other words, a little something for everyone.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie play John and Jane Smith, a guardedly happy suburban couple submitting themselves to marriage counseling in the opening scene. After a few years of marriage they're not sure if the fire has gone out between them. So they voluntarily begin to explore their relationship, beginning with how they met
And where the fun begins.
Borrowing from "True Lies" but multiplying on its premise, the couple are both secret agents trying to lead public lives as happy suburbanites, eager to be home for dinner every night precisely at seven. They live in a home pulled from the pages of Architectural Digest as decorated by 007's gadget-master Q. In a nod to "Prizzi's Honor," The Smiths discover they must each "take out" their spouse. This sets the tone for the rest of the action. A battle of the sexes begins but never gets anywhere near as nasty as in "The War of The Roses," even as the love birds are trying quite hard to kill each other. Along the way, they discover that, perhaps, their mate isn't the enemy after all. But who is?
Pitt and Jolie's chemistry on-screen finally shows us the source of all those tabloid rumors about them. But ignoring the controversy, this movie wouldn't work without the clear and clearly volatile spark between Brad and Angelina. They laugh and love and trade needles and barbs in a rapid clip worthy of Tracy and Hepburn. The script is tight and laced with great jabs thanks to screenwriter Simon Kinberg; and the pacing is kept spy-caper perfect by director Doug Limon. Funny and packed with macho action by both stars, it's derivative of past genre flicks with enough twists and updating to feel modern and new and quite more than satisfying. A good night out, and sure to become one of the summer's critical, box office and  most importantly  audience pleasers. Four bags of buttered and a Coke.