All’s Fair in Love and This Means War

Reese Witherspoon is so charming as Lauren in “This Means War” that it’s easy to believe two studly, high-powered secret agents would spar over her. With that central belief secure, all you have to do is be willing to believe ludicrious plot point after unlikely event, and you’ll have a good time.

Lauren works as a consumer tester, figuring out what toaster is best for a Consumer Magazine type outlet. She is all about numbers, facts, pros and cons. Love is another matter. It’s too messy. Her best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) dishes out the kind of off-color and outrageous advice you’d expect from Chelsea Handler.

Across town, Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) blast their way through days as the kind of secret agent James Bond wishes he could be. Terrorists, mob bosses, terrorists who are also mob bosses…none of them can hold a candle (or a lit stick of dynamite) to Tuck and FDR. Tuck and FDR eat bad guys for breakfast.

While FDR happily maintains the love-em-and-leave-em style of secret agents, Tuck longs for love. A dating service connects him with Lauren and things go well. At least until FDR happens to meet her and falls for her too.

Then the boys bring to bear the full resources of the United States Government on each other…drones, spy cams, satellites, you name it.

It’s silly and over the top, which is what makes it fun. Ha ha…Isn’t the Patriot Act a riot? Drones looking into our living rooms? Oh, what will they think of next?

At times, this silliness becomes overbearing, as when one gentleman takes Lauren on a date to see paintings. That happen to be her favorite artist. That happen to be sitting, unattended, in a warehouse somewhere. That happens to be unguarded.

Yeah.

As the movie goes on, it strains creditably repeatedly, but the cast is likeable and the action pretty good. Pine and Hardy duke it out, not only with each other, but with some bad guys who want in on the action. It adds up to something for everyone, guns and chases for the men, romance for the ladies.

Something frothy and faintly unsatisfying for everyone, but something nonetheless.

Rated PG-13, “This Means War” has some sexual references and situations,  not graphically shown but between unmarried people, some language, and mild violence. Not appropriate for children, mostly due to the lightly foul-mouthed character played by Chelsea Handler.