“This Means War” is a shining example of how you can put together a good, talented cast and still end up with totally crappy movie. Hollywood is filled with wonderful actresses and actors who blow us away with their acting chops. But I’m a firm believer that you’re only as good as your material. Of course we’ve seen good actors that actually rise above the material but great films are never made on performances alone. Well, I don’t care how good the cast is, there is no actor or actress, living or dead, who could save this monstrosity of a movie.
I love Tom Hardy. He’s one of my favorite actors and he has really made a name for himself over the past few years. I’m also a fan of Reese Witherspoon, an actress who is better than some of her role choices. Why these two, especially Hardy, would sign on for this project is beyond me. McG directs this action/romantic comedy that may not be as awful as his “Charlie’s Angels” films but it’s not far off. It’s said that the script had been shopped around for over ten years and had been turned down by a number of actors during that time. That should have been a bad sign but 20th Century Fox went ahead and okayed this $65 million mess. So we have wasted talent and wasted money. Wonderful.
The story itself is pretty corny. FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Hardy) are two CIA field agents who are also best of friends. By sheer circumstance the two find out they’re dating the same woman, a beautiful product tester named Lauren (Witherspoon). They make a gentleman’s agreement to let the best man win while never telling Lauren that they know each other. Predictably their feelings for her grow and their friendly competition evolves into a full blown war. They use everything at their disposal including their CIA technology to win the girl’s heart while sabotaging the other’s dates. So the question becomes who will come out on top and will their friendship remained intact. Yawn!
I think somewhere in here lies a decent idea for a movie. Unfortunately things get so preposterous to the point of being hard to watch. Sitting through Hardy, Witherspoon, and Pine struggling to make vapid, dopey, and unfunny material enjoyable is as entertaining as getting a root canal. There isn’t a single funny scene nor is there a single funny line. And in its struggle to get a laugh it’s forced to resort to cheap antics such as crotch shots and animal slapstick. And it doesn’t help that the movie strays so far from reality that it’s impossible to buy into any of the characters or romances.
There are also several other things that for me resulted in one facepalm after another. First, this may be the most idiotic depiction of the Central Intelligence Agency I have ever seen. Tuck and FDR abuse the system for their benefit with seemingly no obstacles or safeguards to stop them. Angela Bassett (in a complete throwaway role) plays their boss but she certainly doesn’t do enough to even notice their open insubordination. We also get a totally uninteresting action plot about an underdeveloped and frankly pointless crime boss (Til Schweiger) who wants revenge on our bosom buddies for killing his thuggish brother. It’s unnecessary and does more to show how poorly conceived the story is.
I could go on. I could mention Lauren’s annoying best fiend Trish (Chelsea Handler) – a stupid and contrived character devoid of any moral value. I could go into more detail about the film’s utter lack of identity. But frankly, I’m just tired of talking about it. “This Means War” pretty much ends up being a disaster. The cast should be given credit for trying to make this work but they should also be questioned as to why they even jumped onboard with this thing. The movie never comes close to hitting the action, romance, and comedy targets it aims for so the audience is left twiddling our thumbs, checking our watches, and waiting for the end. That’s not exactly my idea of enjoying a movie!
Keith & the Movies 
Reviewed this sommmme time ago, I agreed it was pretty average. Think you hated it a little more than me. Felt like a filler for pine and hardy between slightly bigger movies shall we say? 😉
It’s definitely filler. It’s nothing that’s going to shine bright on either actor’s resume!
Ooof, harsh times. I know to steer clear of this one now. I did think it was odd that Hardy went for this one. He’d been in some really good stuff, maybe this was his way of trying to be a little more mainstream.
I guess. Hardy does give it his all. But the material is just so bad…
I will never see this movie. Just so you know 😉
You are a wise sage with discernment that I only wish I’d used! 😉
I am actually surprised that you managed to give this 1.5 stars. You are a lot more generous than I am. I gave it a great fat 0: https://wherethewildthingsare14.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/film-friday-115/. Largely because I found the idea of two men stalking a woman by invading her personal privacy for comic effect repugnant.
You are right, it was repugnant. But so was her idea of having a sex-off to pick between them. She was pathetic. The two guys were pathetic. The movie was pathetic. In other words, there’s no way I can argue with your 0 rating. LOL
The concept was good but the execution sucked. A bad move for Captain Kirk.
I’m still not sold on Chris Pine but I am really shocked that Tom Hardy, whose career has skyrocketed, would take on this role. Fail!!!
Big FAIL for all involved.
Massive FAIL!!!
God, I hate to say it but this movie is god-awful. I’ll leave it at that. Nice review Keith.
Thanks man. Terrible throughout!
I really really hated this movie. I actually wish the film went into a buddy-cop kind of action flick, as opposed to the terrible romantic triangle clusterfuck it came to be. Hardy and Pine work well off each other. It’s a shame this is the garbage we had to see it in.
It’s a disaster. Lazy and unfunny!
A fitting score for this dismal movie, Keith! I saw it on the plane and it’s just terrible. I enjoyed seeing Hardy but man, he’s really just cashing in to do this role. Mostly though, it’s Reese’s casting as I don’t believe it for a second any of these guys would fall for her, let alone FIGHT over her! And Chelsea Handler is just ugh!!
No arguments here! The characters may look good but none of them are people that I liked or cared one thing about!!!
Keith, sounds like you took one for the team on this one. I was uninterested from the first second of the trailer I saw for this one.
You re a wise man!!!! 😉
I have seen most of Hardy’s work now, and one day will see it all, but I’m going to keep on putting this off as much as I can!
LOL! Make it your last movie in your Hardy movie watching!
I like Hardy as well, but this looked pretty dreadful. I’m glad he made a comeback with TDKR. Nice review.
Thanks dude! “Dreadful” Is a very nice description of it! 😉
Ooooh, I am definitely going to give this one a skip. My one friend absolutely adores it (though she loves cheesy romantic comedies and Tom Hardy), but she told me it was definitely not my cup of tea and that I would hate it. To see an independent thought on this has just definitely solidified my unwillingness to watch it. Thank you so much for saving me from that!
It was my painful duty to do so. 😉
Skip this thing! The cast is intriguing but don’t let that fool you. This thing is a train wreck..
Hahaha, good thing you were there to take down the sparklies and leave the bare structure behind then!