Love on the Down Low ~ Movie Review of ‘This Means War’

Spies usually don’t have much time for dating since often they are too busy with shootouts and posing as cruise ship captains or travel agents.  Of course when one spy joins a dating service it is up to his partner to offer him an excuse to bail if the woman in question is everything her profile picture isn’t, but if this same friend meets the woman (though he doesn’t know she is the one from the dating site) by accident at a video store later (do video stores still exist?) then that is just fate.  When that woman is Reese Witherspoon (literally looking the hottest that film audiences have ever seen her) then it is war!

 

                ‘This Means War’ opens up on Valentine’s Day (obviously and older review) as an attempt to entice couples to see a film which features elements aimed to appeal to both genders (defined in the most stereotypical way possible).  Along with romance and light comedy there are all sorts of things being blown up.  A movie idea like this could be a disaster, but ‘This Means War’ has a light-heartedness that keeps it afloat even when kids with sad eyes and grandmothers giving grandmotherly wisdom are thrown into the mix.

 

                Witherspoon plays Lauren Scott a woman who moved out to Los Angeles from Atlanta for a boyfriend whom she later found cheating on her.  She loves her job and life in general, however she keeps bumping into Mr. X who is now engaged to another and obviously destined for bliss.  As all women in similar situations, Lauren gabs to her best friend Trish (played for big laughs by Chelsea Handler) who then unbeknownst to Lauren adds her Lauren’s photo to a dating website while promising some interesting tidbits including a history in gymnastics.  When Tuck, Tom Hardy, responds Lauren realizes that he is just too good looking to ignore.  When she bumps into FDR, Chris Pine, at the before mentioned video store they strike up a conversation where she basically reads him the riot act but has in reality made herself a temptress worth pursuing.  After both men find out that the new woman in their lives is the same woman it brings out their competitive sides…which are exercised spy style.   

 

                Listen, this movie does border on voyeurism (at best) and stalking (at worst) but the charms of the three principals keep the fun-loving elements in place.   And really at no point are you thinking this film needs to be more realistic because if for nothing else no one could look as hot at Witherspoon and legitimately work a traditional day job.  Afterwards a group of Kansas City self identified heterosexual women were chatting and we all agreed that the scene or Witherspoon on a kitchen counter in her underwear was simply beyond…well, it was beyond words!

 

                One of the production companies involved in ‘This Means War’ was Witherspoon’s own Type A Films which may help to explain why the film doesn’t go all out ‘dude’ – BTW, Will Smith (yes, the one you are thinking of) is a producer.  I think director McG, who started his directing career with the cinematic versions of ‘Charlie’s Angels’, knows how to add the sexy without the threatening.  Further, for those of you who like trivia, two of the stars have ‘Star Trek’ credentials.  Chris Pine is the new Captain Kirk, but did you know that Tom Hardy starred in 2002’s ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’?  It was the last ‘Star Trek’ movie to be made until the latest reboot with Pine.

 

                The few quibbles I have with the film involve its handling of Handler.  She isn’t the typical ‘best girlfriend’ people find in these sorts of films primarily because she is…how should I word this...attractive.  Her bitchy attractiveness is what put many writers and others on Jezebel teeth on edge so for the script to suggest that her character isn’t attractive is a bit off putting – it almost suggests that women who are funny are by definition not attractive.  I also could have lived without the slapstick car falling in water stunt.     

 

                Overall, I would recommend ‘This Means War’.  I think it is perfect for its intended purpose of entertaining couples out for a date night; especially if that date night is the biggest date night of the year.  It won’t be up for any awards but it will probably up the ante for Witherspoon in landing sexier roles. 

 

Westerfield © 2012