RBR: This Means War

This is another sad example of when bad movies happen to good actors. I love Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are both rising stars, yet being in this film did not of them any service. The ridiculous set up involves Pine and Hardy playing CIA agents who are also friends and also just happen to be dating the same girl (Witherspoon). They decide to use all of their available spy tactics in order to be the one that ultimately wins the girl. Their efforts are stalkerish and mean, yet are meant to be played for laughs. Meanwhile, Witherspoon's character doesn't come off well either as she's never upfront to either guy about seeing someone's else. We also have to trudge through several unfunny scenes involving her receiving advice from Chelsea Handler, who's stiff delivery grates on you quickly. About the only funny line in the film comes from Chris Pine who confuses Handler for an old man (How is that there's only a one year age difference between Handler and Witherspoon?) The implausibility of the story may have been tolerated more had it not been coupled with the poor direction of McG. Action scenes are edited at a dizzying pace and every shot in the film apparently required a bright light to be shone in the background. I'm not there will be many people tempted into seeing this because of its cast, but do yourself a favor and skip it. Rating: **