This Means War Review

Opening on this day of mushiness, This Means War may on the surface sound like a chick flick, it does actually have a little something for everyone.

When best friends and partners, FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck's (Tom Hardy) covert operation gets very public the two guys get benched. With little to do, they have time to pursue other matters. tuck's looking for a real connection, and FDR is really only interested in a one day rental. Enter in Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) an uptight product tester in desperate need of a love life. Her friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) pushes her to expand her horizons, and with some misguided good intentions creates a very provocative dating profile to get the ball rolling. See I told you sounds like perfect chick flick material, but there's more. 

Lauren soon meets Tuck, who charming, and gorgeous, not a serial killer, the perfect type of guy to start dating. And then she meets FDR, a hot shot womanizer, who's more child than man. On a side note, I love Chris Pine, don't get me wrong, but what the hell was wrong with his lips during most of this picture? I'm not talking the fullness, because that's nice. But they were all weirdly overly pink and wind burned. Did no one have chapstick on the set?

Now, back to the review. As she gets to know the guys the old fashion way, they use their skills to infiltrate her life and get the goods on her. These grand schemes lead to plenty of laughs, and I'm not just talking nut shots, though there is one of those, but fun with tranq guns, sprinklers, and some talk of tiny jazz hands and good and plentys. 

But as I said it's not all girly stuff. The botched mission left one mad brother, I mean seriously angry, and of course its only a matter of who will find who first, if the girl driving the friends apart doesn't lead them to kill each other first. Which means bullets, and car chasing, and for this adrenaline junkie, a welcome element. 

Overall the storyline is good, the movie sets a great pace from the beginning, and its unrelenting as it delivers some truly funny moments. Laura Vandervoort is seriously under utilized, if you blinked at the beginning you may miss her. And Lauren's actual judgement, and well, another female's sudden change of heart leave me completely baffled. I know, I know Hollywood ending, but seriously? It makes me question how soft headed they are, but it's not enough to take away from all that is good about the movie, and come on it's Valentine's Day. Go see the flick, it's a ton of fun.

This Means War opens today, February 14, 2012.