Now Playing in Hanover: “This Means War”
By The Dartmouth Arts Staff
Published on Monday, February 20, 2012
Directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol, better known as McG, “This Means War” tells the age-old story of two former best friends who have a falling out as a result of their love for the same woman. The love triangle is established between the CIA agents FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck Henson (Tom Hardy) over a product-testing executive named Lauren Scott (Reese Witherspoon). Although FDR and Tuck are partners with a history of great rapport and friendship, they turn against each other as they focus all of their world-class spy skills on winning over Lauren. Instead of waging war against enemy nations and international criminals, FDR and Tuck turn their attention to a more personal mission. — Katie Tai
Directed by: Nichol With: Pine, Hardy, Witherspoon, Chelsea Handler 103 minutes Rated PG-13
Entertaining with scattered laugh-out-loud moments, “This Means War” doesn’t even pretend to be substantive. Even Witherspoon’s charming persona and Pine’s undeniable good looks can’t redeem the slew of cliches that weigh down this confused action-filled romcom. Handler, however, is the breath of fresh air in this easily forgettable film. — Jackie Wei To call “This Means War” unrealistic would be a severe disservice to the word, yet it’s not necessarily a bad thing. By throwing caution to the wind, the film has fun with its absurd setup, and so do its stars. Pine and Hardy’s bromance is arguably the best part of the movie, and the two should be paired up more often. This is leave-your-brain-at-home entertainment at its finest. — Varun Bhuchar
The ends to which the BFF-assassins FDR and Tuck go to win over the same girl are predictable and driven mostly by their access to cool tracking and monitoring devices. The shaky script forgets that an iPhone could probably have accomplished similar tasks, however, and probably has an app that tells better jokes. Witherspoon is not believable as the sad sap female role of Lauren. Witherspoon’s acting talents are better suited for roles where her character does not act like a lost puppy looking for a chew toy. As Lauren’s gal pal Trish, Handler plays nothing more than a slightly more endearing version of her usually vulgar self, but her lack of a filter draws some much-needed laughs.
— Kate Sullivan