PITHY PITT - by Bill Zwecker

I had a brief chat with Brad Pitt Thursday morning, arranged by the actor's people to promote "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Pitt declined to delve into anything too personal about significant other Angelina Jolie, except to shrug off the numerous celebrity magazine claims that the couple was breaking up.

"[That's] so nuts, it's not worth responding to. ... They should have been with us last night as we were up with two of our kids, who were up all night with a cold. ... Things are just great."

As for being a parent, Pitt's whole face lit up, saying, "It's the most terrific, important thing you can do with your life. It's tough, but it's so worth it."

Asked about the intense media attention "Brangelina" faced while Jolie was in Chicago this summer filming "Wanted," Pitt laughed it off, saying it was "no big deal ... just goes with the territory," and cleverly found a way to compare today's press intrusion to that facing Jesse James in the 19th century.

"When we got into this project, I was amazed to discover it wasn't all that different back then, just no broadcast media, of course. ... As for the tabloids, they were just as scurrilous and wild as they are today. I think some things just continue to circle around when it comes to fame, people seeking fame and people reporting on celebrities."

Pitt said he and Jolie "really loved being in Chicago" and can't wait to come back. As for their son Maddox, "he still can't stop talking about all the dinosaurs he saw at the [Field] museum."