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

5 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 | best friend | cia agent | product testing | 

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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 R for some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [us] Official site [es]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Japanese Serbian

Release Date:

17 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

¡Esto es guerra!

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

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 97 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bradley Cooper was cast but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

During Tuck and Lauren's first date, there is a bottle of water by the table leg but it's gone in the next shot.

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Quotes

Trish: Don't choose the better guy, choose the guy that's gonna make you the better girl.

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Connections

References Frenzy (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Just for You"
Written by Joseph Davis
Performed by Mr. Lonesome & The Bluebelles

User Reviews

A really bad film

Director McG has many (many, many) haters, but I generally like his movies. I don't consider him a "misunderstood genius", nor anything similar; I just generally find his exuberant visual style and frantic energy entertaining. I found Charlie's Angels and its sequel amusing parodies of the action cinema; I liked Terminator Salvation for having found an interesting angle to the franchise; and We Are Marshall...well, that one was mediocre. Anyway, I can't defend McG with This Means War, his most recent film, because it ended up being truly horrible.

The most important problem from This Means War is its screenplay, which I found incredibly weak and predictable (if you don't guess during the first minutes which one of the two gallants will stay with the girl, you haven't seen any romantic comedy in your whole life). The humor lacks of any spontaneity, the jokes are terribly predictable, and the performances are pathetic, specially Reese Witherspoon's, which feels so false and studied that I hated her character even more than the two gallants.

The action scenes lack of any suspense or emotion. There are various fights, chases and explosions, but everything is so uninspired that I wouldn't be surprised if editors Nicolas De Toth and Jesse Driebusch made a confusion with the reels and included in this film scenes from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Knight and Day, Killers, or any other deplorable "action romantic comedy".

It's easy to note that nobody that worked in This Means War put any effort to it, and that makes it a horrible film which I suggest you to avoid by any means.