The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith is slipping. There are "huge spaces" between them, their lives are caught in utter domesticity - the routine pecks on the cheek and arriving home at 7 p.m. for dinner.

But under the façade of friendly neighbours, lies a web of lies, deceit and lots of hardcore gun power. For, John and Jane Smith, who live in a holly-lined suburban bungalow, are not the simple business people that they seem.

The innocuous garden shed doubles up as a high-tech weapons store, the oven opens up with an array of guns because Mr. Smith (Brad Pitt) and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie) are the world's deadliest assassins - only they don't know about each other's secret identity.

So they visit a shrink, say "I don't answer the question" when asked "So how many times do you have sex?" and talk about dinner table discussions which revolve around the addition of peas in a recipe.

Director Doug Liman ("Bourne Identity") certainly knows a thing or two about action flicks, brings all the razzle-dazzle that a big budget 20th Century Fox thriller should possess, including the zipping car chases and the millions of bullets.

There is a dashing thrill about watching two of the world's most beautiful people display their much talked about chemistry - whether they are doing the tango or are in white underwear in a bashed up car.

That chemistry, every bit of it, oozes out on screen as Pitt and Jolie play the bored husband and wife and then, deadly killers, with equal aplomb.

One of the 'moments' in the film comes when, after both of them have finished a kill (including Jolie floating down from a skyscraper aided by a single stretchable rope) - the duo go to party next door.

And Jolie, as Mrs. Jane Smith, sits toying with some insipid wine, when suddenly a baby is handed to her. A baby! She looks stricken.

After such woes, the action heats up when the duo discover each other's real identities and now have a new assignment - to kill each other.

That's what they do. Jane Smith tries to bomb to oblivion John Smith, who in turn tries to shoot his wife dead. And then, there is that fascinating hand-to-hand smash up, where they punch and kick and bash with great gusto.

The sudden cold heartedness with which they try to kill each other is a little abrupt but Liman makes sure that there is some emotion here and there - like when Jane sees a teddy bear that John had given her being torn to bits in the battle and the solitary tear that she sheds thinking he is dead.

The writing is fabulous, especially the car chase sequence when, while battling half a dozen cars, they own up to the lies that they've told. And then, Pitt's disgust when he confesses to having slept with "50 or 60 women" and Jolie says her figure is "312".

And the final shootout is choreographed like a dream with the Smiths firing away back to back to survive. All in all, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is a brilliant coming together of two uniquely glamorous stars.

Are they having an affair? Well, many would say, we hope so.