This Means War

Cartoony romp has a slick surface but not much underneath. What it does have are three charming actors who work hard to buoy it with their personality and charisma. Tom Hardy and Chris Pine work well together, actually their chemistry with each other is much stronger than either share with their female co-star. Reese is ditsy and sweet but whoever was in charge of her hair should be ashamed, it looks distractingly like straw. The director's roots in music videos are painfully obvious and he does nothing to smooth out the many kinks in the borderline creepy plot. Wasted in nothing parts are Til Schweiger a good actor stuck in a standard villain part that must have been larger in the original script and Angela Bassett, a great actress in a stick figure part that is so far beneath her abilities it's a crying shame. Rosemary Harris is thankfully on hand briefly to brighten a few scenes. Silly and painless you'll forget it as soon as it's over. All involved have made better films and will again.

This Means War frustrates me. It has three excellent leads who all give great performances and pretty solid action and stunts, but the story failed this movie altogether. This Means War establishes Hardy and Pine as two inseparable friends that are even closer than family but spend the rest of the film easily dividing and pitting them against each other over a girl they just met. It makes Witherspoon's character feel like she is really hurting these guys' lives, but it's all played as not that big of a deal. And when she ultimately chooses one of them over the other, the guys forgive each other like nothing happened and then jump to characters talking about marriage. I'm old-fashioned regarding loyalty and romance, so this movie irritated my pet peeve. It's not as bad as my rating might imply, but I'm irked.

I almost started off hating this movie before I had seen it; I thought the trailer looked like crap, with horrible comedic dialog and premises, but I took the chance on free screening tickets, figuring I could make fun at worst. The film opens with shooting at the hip action and stays pretty entertaining in comedy and delivery. Witherspoon's character's sister (Chelsea Handler) and their interactions are lots of fun. Chris Pine does a good job being semi-typecast and the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. It's way better than expected and I wouldn't have been upset had I paid full price for it. Like a review I read said, it's a romantic movie that guys won't have to be dragged to. Is it a great movie? No. Is it a fun valentines movie? Yes.

If you wanted to make a movie that was successful at the box office, you could plug the story lines of the top 25 movies for the last 10 years into a computer and have it generate a plot. It would probably come up with a new genre called the 'romantic action comedy'. It would probably come up with, 'This Means War'. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out who it was targeted for. First, no adult with a few functioning neurons will find the plot compelling. I doubt if women would find the romance unforgettable. I, therefore, concluded that the movie was targeted towards 15 year old boys out on their first dates. Yes, there are the obligatory action scenes with the required number of explosions and car chases, but this is mainly to wake up the 13-year-olds who fell asleep during the 'romantic' scenes. The comedy, and I am stretching the dictionary definition of that word here, comes mainly from the sexual remarks of Chelsea Handler and are directed at the same sleepy 13-year-olds.

It's too bad. I like Reese Witherspoon and, prior to this movie, I had concluded that she was never in a bad movie. Isn't she being offered any better roles than this? It is one of the few movies where you feel sorry for the guy who gets the girl. Actually, by that point in the movie, you really don't care. Yet, the sad truth, the very sad truth is that the movie will probably be a box office hit, a fact that will generate more movies in this genre and keep computer programmers employed for years to come.

After seeing the previews, I had already been convinced that I wanted to see This Means War - romantic comedy spy movie - right up my alley. My hubby wasn't similarly convinced.

After getting tickets to an advance screening, we both went - and ended up pleasantly surprised. This Means War was funny, really funny - Chelsea Handler was the hidden gem of the movie.

The movie never took itself too seriously, which was refreshing - it had a few heartfelt moments, but nothing too sappy. It stayed on the side of comedy over romance, and wasn't overly predictable.

There's certainly enough action to keep the guys interested, with enough story to keep us gals entertained. And plenty of laughs for everyone.