Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine battle it out in This Means War. In theatres everywhere February 14.
Do you find it difficult to sit through a movie that leans heavily toward one gender’s enjoyment? This Means War attempts to balance the romantic comedy genre by mixing it with action.
It’s an age old premise – Two men fall for the same woman and wreak havoc on each other to win her affections. Spice it up with super CIA operatives as the male leads and the plot sizzles.
Chris Pine (Star Trek), Tom Hardy (Inception), and Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde) keep things light with a good sense of comedic chemistry and romantic harmony. However, nobody tickled my funny bone like Chelsea Handler, who stole every scene she was in.
The characters are somewhat one-dimensional, but they’re engaging and at times felt real – Something unexpected from this type of film.
McG (Terminator Salvation, Charlie’s Angels) obviously wasn’t going for realism in his direction presenting the CIA as a light-hearted parody of the actual organization. He balanced the story well and allowed screen time for the each character in the love triangle to connect with the audience.
Clearly the goal was to provide gobs of entertainment and not take home an Oscar statuette.
Bottom Line: This is a perfectly timed, bang-for-your-buck date movie. Saint Valentine would be proud.
Grade B
Runtime: 98 minutes
IMAX: No
3D: No
