Release Date: February 17, 2012
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 96 minutes

The world’s deadliest CIA operatives are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman. Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever – each other.

The formula to This Means War is anything but new but the faces that are attached to this film make it a film worth putting on your watch list. Had it not been for such recognizable faces, this film definitely would not have been on my radar since the story is so predictable and I would not have bothered to go through the motions. But this cast will take you on a journey worth riding.

“Sometimes falling is the best part.”

A covert mission gone wrong lands the buddies, Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) back at their desks full time for the time being. One aspect many may worry about is how exactly guy meets girl and the other guy meets girl with everyone out of the loop about how everyone is connected here… and I must say, the build up was crafted so well and executed perfectly. You will be captivated. That said, it was odd watching one of the guys meeting Lauren at a video store. How many of these still exist? We all miss the days when we ran into everyone we knew (and good looking strangers) at the video store so this is more of an unexpected, lovely observation than criticism. I digress…

Back to the cast for a moment, Angela Bassett was underused and Rosemary Harris made a brief appearance which was more than a delight to see. It always is. Surprisingly, most of Chelsea Handler’s jokes fell flat. She’s much better on the fly. Surely there were other versions of her scenes shot, all of which couldn’t have been the dirty ones cut for a PG-13 rating. It seems like Handler was mishandled here. To give her character some depth, in the end Trish gave very solid advice to Lauren. But after watching Trish a certain way throughout the entire film, it seemed out of place at that point to accept this characters as anything but one dimensional. Too little, too late.

As for the story, the FDR and Tucker set rules as they both fight for Lauren’s love. These rules were clearly set up to be broken. Foreshadowing almost seems like a joke for films as predictable as this. But if you know what you are getting into and are fine with that, this is the film for you. In a surprising turn, the guys do share their resources at a certain point… before things get too messy in which case this comedy turns into an “Aww, they have to make up!” moment.

The parallels between the two relationships will be more fun to watch than you anticipate. There’s plenty of gunfire against the enemy, fierce competition between the guys… and almost non stop action all around. So this factor so neatly intertwined with the with romance and comedy is probably why the parallels are so fun to see. Throughout all of this, the audience is able to connect with these characters and root for each one which makes it interesting because you don’t want to see anyone get hurt. FDR and Tucker have a bromance going and everyone is simply trying to find happiness. What FDR and Tucker are willing to do for it, that’s the story here and that’s a story worth checking out. And everybody wins, yes, but not in the way that you think. So be sure to go see This Means War today.

This Means War is in theaters now.