This Means War (2012)

Two top CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they discover they are dating the same woman.

Director:

McG

Writers:

Timothy Dowling (screenplay), Simon Kinberg (screenplay),

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reese Witherspoon	...	Lauren
Chris Pine	...	FDR Foster
Tom Hardy	...	Tuck
Til Schweiger	...	Heinrich
Chelsea Handler	...	Trish
John Paul Ruttan	...	Joe
Abigail Spencer	...	Katie (as Abigail Leigh Spencer)
Angela Bassett	...	Collins
Rosemary Harris	...	Nana Foster
George Touliatos	...	Grandpa Foster
Clint Carleton	...	Jonas
Warren Christie	...	Steve
Leela Savasta	...	Kelly
Natassia Malthe	...	Xenia
Laura Vandervoort	...	Britta

Storyline

Two CIA agents, Tuck and Frank who are also best friends, have been benched because someone's after them. Tuck is divorced with a son whom he's not close to and Frank is a ladies man. Tuck decides to try and find someone so he places his profile on a dating website. Lauren, a woman also looking for a guy sees tuck's profile and goes with him. She later bumps into Frank and he hits on her and she goes out with him. she's intrigued by both of them. When they learn that they're dating the same girl, they agree to let her choose. But both can't help but use their skills to keep tabs on her and each other. And also sabotage each others dates with her.

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Plot Keywords:

dating | cia | cia agent | best friend | playing against type | 

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Taglines:

It's SPY against SPY.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, some violence and action, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [United States] Official site [Spain]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Japanese Serbian

Release Date:

17 February 2012 (Canada)

Also Known As:

C'est la guerre

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$17,405,930 (USA) (17 February 2012)

Gross:

$54,758,461 (USA) (8 June 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Overbrook Entertainment, Robert Simonds Productions, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min (edited) 103 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Pine and Tom Hardy have both appeared in Star Trek (1966)-related films. Hardy played Praetor Shinzon of Romulus & Remus in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), while Pine played Cpt. Kirk in Star Trek (2009).

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Goofs

When FDR and Tuck are fighting in the restaurant they fall from an upper level to a lower level. Initially, when they are both falling, it appears that they will miss the table. In the next cut, they both land on the table.

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Quotes

Lauren: Oh, I think I'm going to hell
Trish: Don't worry. If you're going to hell, I'll just come pick you up.

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Connections

Referenced in Edición Especial Coleccionista: Las chicas de la Tierra son fáciles (2012)

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Soundtracks

Repetition
Written by Richie James Eaton
Performed by The Willowz (as Willowz)
Courtesy of Dim Mak Records

User Reviews

Just a poor excuse of a comedy

McG hasn't really been seen in the director's chair since Terminator Salvation hit theaters back in 2009. Audiences were split as to whether they actually enjoyed Salvation or not as critics hated it and the movie failed to make back its budget in its domestic gross. So what's the logical next step after doing a movie about the nuclear holocaust and the ongoing war between humans and humanoid machines? You could probably guess the action bit, but the romantic comedy part would probably throw you off.

This Means War is the story of FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) two CIA agents who are two of the best agents in their field. FDR and Tuck are partners and best friends, but come to a gentleman's agreement when they both start dating the same woman named Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Both FDR and Tuck begin falling for Lauren and not only begin breaking the rules that they set for one another, but use whatever means necessary to keep Lauren in their good graces.

This Means War throws you right into one of FDR and Tuck's missions right from the start. The main issue becomes how dizzying the camera work is. The action hits extremely hard and is incredibly fast paced, but you have a difficult time actually following just what is transpiring in these quick cuts let alone trying to keep your wits about you. This is kind of odd since I wasn't a fan of Terminator Salvation, but felt like one of its strongest qualities was how the camera always seemed to be in the right place during the action. Maybe McG decided to regress back to his Charlie's Angels mindset for This Means War.

The action heavy romantic comedy is dragged down by annoying girl talk. Lauren and her friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) do nothing but whine and complain about their lives the entire movie while also revealing they're basically the biggest whores around. This Means War paints this picture of women that they all date multiple guys at once and will put out just to try and make a decision. It's pretty demeaning to women in general. Between Lauren and Trish's talks of the size of a man's private parts or a lightning round involving sex, every inch of dialogue between them is unbearable right from the start. Meanwhile, FDR and Tuck have quite a bit of immature bickering between one another as well. It becomes borderline homophobic at times and just feels very third grade for nearly half of the film. The second half becomes a little easier to digest and the highlight comes when FDR mocks Tuck's British accent.

The storyline is very imbecilic, as well. Using the gadgets, technology, and basically every ounce of intelligence of the CIA to try and win over a woman is just asinine. The actual mission, which is certainly more interesting than the love triangle you're forced to endure, isn't even second fiddle. It's more like the third or fourth subplot of the movie. The FDR/Tuck/Lauren love triangle being the primary, FDR/Tuck's friendship falling apart being the secondary, Lauren trying to mull things over with Trish being the third, and Tuck trying to be a stand up family man the fourth. So that would make the actual mission the fifth subplot of the movie. How lame is that? This Means War does get a little less irritating as it progresses. The jokes get slightly less offensive and Tom Hardy still manages to be the best part of the movie. While Reese Witherspoon has to make it a point to try and jiggle around while wearing horrible clothes and singing off key and Chris Pine attempts to be the biggest womanizer he possibly can, they still manage to squeeze in Tom Hardy being a complete bad ass. The paintball scene is one of the highlights, but the most original aspect of the movie comes in one of the first (of many) dates Tuck has with Lauren. He takes her to a carnival and at the end of it takes her on the trapeze. It's actually really cool and would be a really fun first date for anyone.

This Means War is a frustrating and awful excuse for entertainment. Its humor is lame and offensive in the way that it insults all of mankind by how stupid and immature it is, its plot is horrible and insulting, and Reese Witherspoon will test every last ounce of patience you possibly have. This Means War gives you the impression that women are easy and that if you've got enough game then everything works out for the best. While it does have a few moments that try to make up for how terrible it really is, This Means War still can't shake the fact that its spewed excrement into your face for over an hour and a half.