This is it. The movie that started the whole Brangelina phenomenon whereby we were all suddenly in the know about what kind of chips Brad Pitt was seen eating with Angelina Jolie on the third Wednesday in October. Now the two of them can’t even sneeze in each other’s company without some intrepid journalist writing about how it will affect Jennifer Aniston and if the sneeze was in fact a marriage proposal.

You want to know why this movie was a key player in the development of that whole mess? Chemistry. Plain and simple, good old chemistry. Pitt and Jolie could keep perfume makers in business for a century with the amount of high power pheromones that are flying around in this husband vs. wife, spy vs. spy action flick. As a couple they’ve become dull and unhappy, unable to get past each other’s stiff exterior and an almost clinical detachment. Sparks begin to fly when each discovers that the other is working for a rival assassin firm and that they are each other’s next mark. Believable? Oh hell no.

The set up for the plot is much like the main characters’ outer persona: a rigid, incompatible line that serves as nothing more than a front. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is no more about rival firms than it is about troubled marriages; the only focus here is to give Pitt and Jolie as much screen time as possible accompanied by big guns, big stunts and big explosions. Pretty soon in I found myself forgetting the background to the action (obviously it’s neither necessary nor important) and was mesmerized by Angelina in a power suit, and Brad’s fuzzy scalp.

Jolie is the epitome of the cool, collected business woman, planning her next move with care and making sure she has all the details, what ifs, and contingencies worked out. Cool and collected, but layered in a thick slab of patented Jolie seductiveness that makes men and women alike foam at the mouth. Although I sometimes wish she would tackle something a little more ambitious, perhaps something worthy of her inherent naughtiness, she pulls off Mrs. Jane Smith with a confidence and ease that impresses. Pitt as Mr. John Smith however, seems like he’s got a ramrod shoved somewhere it shouldn’t be. For someone that’s supposed to be a loose cannon assassin, flying off the handle and ignoring structured plans, he’s certainly got a closed-mouth serious streak to him. Pitt had the opportunity to stop being so darn straight-laced all the time and really let go opposite Jolie and while I do think he loosened up a little bit, he failed to show the full range of his acting abilities.

Still, between the two of them and some occasionally snappy dialogue, I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. I had been yearning for a decent action flick to stave of the dozens of draaaamaaas that I had been watching and Mr. and Mrs. Smith was the perfect interruption. I saw it on the plane on the way to Glasgow and with its fast-paced action and shiny weaponry, it kept me entertained on what is usually a long and painfully boring flight. The first half or so of the movie was sleek and suggested something a little more sophisticated than what it boiled down to. I would’ve liked to have seen it steer clear of slipping into the guns’n'bombs’n'fire trap and follow the path it started on, but that’s just me. It was far from perfect, but it was pretty darn good. Even my parents (particularly my mom) really liked it and trust me, that’s saying a lot.

In Brief: Smart, seductive assassin piece erodes into typical action/adventure fluff, but is an entertaining and enjoyable romp with two of the world’s most attractive people.