Maybe it was my affinity for all three leads in the film. Maybe it was because I had just watched The Vow. But something really worked for me in this one. Sure, this type of film has been done before and in a lot of cases, better. And yes, as many critics will certainly complain, this movie is completely and utterly ridiculous without the vaguest sense of realism or character depth. Yet This Means War made me laugh often and kept me fully entertained from the opening sequence to the end credits.
The plot is pretty elementary. FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) are hotshot BFF partners in the CIA who bungle a mission and get temporarily sidelined. Tuck is a bit of a romantic and feeling bored and lonely, while FDR is a self-absorbed womanizer (yes there’s even a Capt. Kirk reference). Tuck decides to try online dating during his downtime and on the night of his first date both men meet Lauren Scott (Reese Witherspoon) and decide to pursue her. Hijinks ensue. Wokka wokka.
This Means War was built on a foundation we see too often these days – a poorly written and mostly predictable script that puts it all on the actors to make it work. Thankfully, for the most part the actors took the ball and ran with it this time. Chris Pine, in my opinion, is one of the most entertaining young talents working in Hollywood right now, and he remains on-point with his comedic timing and charisma in this movie. Tom Hardy, who normally shines in heavier fare (Inception, Warrior) lightens up and plays a surprisingly gentle and sensitive guy here, and shows a pretty impressive knack for handling the more subtle humor. The two actors have great chemistry and nail the devilish love/hate competition that most lifelong brothers/friends develop. Witherspoon is basically doing her Witherspoon-y thing and is cute and fairly funny at times. The film tries to present Lauren as goofy and awkward, and I felt Witherspoon didn’t fully commit, but she has the more thankless role of the three leads and does what she can with a fairly underdeveloped character.
Director McG presents the story with a hyper energy that wisely moves things along so fast the audience never really digests the silly levels This Means War reaches. McG gets a bad rap in the industry and is sometimes unfairly compared to the likes of Brett Ratner and other hacky directors. He’s had his missteps (Terminator Salvation) but also his share of things that I quite adore (We Are Marshall, Supernatural, Chuck, Charlie’s Angels). He’s certainly playing up his more campy side from the latter film but it works and makes for fast paced sugar high of a ride.
In what could have been really cool movie, McG mentioned recently in interviews that he originally intended on releasing the film with three different alternate endings showcasing a different choice made by Witherspoon’s character to send to random theaters without media or public knowledge, so that your film could have ended much differently than your friend’s across town. Bummer, because the idea was pretty ballsy and innovative and would have made for some great word of mouth. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition, but thankfully the ending they did go with is pretty satisfying and not quite as predictable as you might guess. McG is an underrated director that excels at having fun, and it’s evident in this film.
In addition to the lead actors having to piggy-back much of the film, the supporting cast does its best to help out as well. The always solid Angela Bassett is strangely reduced to a glorified cameo as the (unintentionally?) clichéd 80’s style angry CIA boss character Collins, right down to telling the boys they are “loose cannons” and basically asking for their badges (she calls it “grounding” here). All she needed was a cigar to chomp on in order to hit every full-fledged cop movie stereotype. I can’t help but think there were some deleted scenes with Bassett’s character or maybe just a complete missed opportunity, because it seemed like there was some comedic beats between her and the boys that were left untapped. The other major supporting character, Lauren’s best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler), gets some of the biggest laughs in the film. Most of her humor was typical Handler-schtick but her raunchy and dry delivery was utilized sparingly and quite well.
The biggest complaints arise from the script. The dialogue is almost never witty, and some of the story details are maddeningly random and weird. For instance, FDR accidentally meets Lauren for the first time at a video store right after the shortest first date ever with Tuck. It’s still daylight outside when it ends for crying out loud. First off, do video stores even exist anymore? Not only that but they’re still popular enough that it is implied FDR picks up women here on a regular basis? Really?! Was this written in the 90’s? Later, Tuck takes Lauren on a date downtown and then somehow he gets them inside a circus tent where they get on the high trapeze and swing to each other while upside down and only a small net below?!? Not making that one up. Portions of the film felt like a rejected script for an episode of Friends and were on the verge of completely dragging the film down but it mercifully never quite reached that point.
This Means War reaches its best when the boys are in the midst of their full-on prank war bankrolled by the CIA. The fun becomes infectious and you will find reasons to root for both guys to end up with the girl. There’s nothing terribly fresh here, but the film is also never boring or pretentious. McG understood what the film was trying to be and really did his best to own it. This Means War has the right mix of humor, romance, eye candy and action to satisfy both the male and female demographics, making this a serviceable and perfectly fun lighthearted date movie.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
SECOND OPINION
I walked into this film with fairly low expectations, and walked out pleasantly surprised with the results. It’s a ridiculous, over-the-top romp featuring a ton of laughs and some pretty stellar action scenes, and is an excellent choice for couples trying to bridge the gap between “girl movies” and “guy movies.” Witherspoon is the weakest link here, showing her age in the type of role she would have taken a decade ago, and her character is so bland and uninteresting that I found myself wondering why Pine and Hardy would ever be competing for her affections in the first place. Luckily, the chemistry between the two male leads and the ridiculous lengths they go to in order to sabotage each other more than make up for Witherspoon’s shortcomings.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
— Brent