You eyeball Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and you laugh. It's not that Simon Kinberg's script gives them anything particularly funny to say. What brings the grin is seeing two of the most gorgeous people on the globe at the peak of their movie- perfection. They are almost reason enough to pony up for this bungled spin on Prizzi's Honor in which two married assassins who don't know each other's business — even after five years of suburban togetherness — are hired to whack each other.

Director Doug Liman knows his way around hip comedy (Swingers, Go) and hard-core action (The Bourne Identity), but combining the two throws him. The romantic banter ts with a delicious joke. John Smith (Pitt) and wife Jane (Jolie) visit a marriage counselor because — ready for this? — they no longer feel any erotic heat. They end up getting off by trying to off each other. Punch him in the face. Kick her in the midriff. What an aphrodisiac. Please don't try this at home. Pitt and Jolie make sexy sparring partners, but they can't lift this leaden material. To compensate, Liman piles on the stunts, which grow boring and repetitive. Worse, he lets the supporting cast, including Adam Brody, Kerry Washington and Chris Weitz, fade into the woodwork. Only Vince Vaughn registers hilariously as John's boss. Asked about business, he replies, "Same old, same old. People need killing." People also need more in a movie than proof that looks aren't everything.

“Alison”

On Elvis Costello’s country-tinged ballad, the lyric does not get too sentimental in recalling an ex who had since been with one of the singer's "little friends" and is now married. Some believe the song is about murder, due to lines like “Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking,” "Somebody better put out the big light" and, of course, "My aim is true,” which became the title of Costello's debut album. In 2002, Costello told Rolling Stone, “It isn’t [about murder]. It’s about disappointing somebody. It’s a thin line between love and hate, as the Persuaders sang.”