This Means War

Forget trust and honesty. In This Means War, traits such as deception and betrayal are the cornerstones for a good relationship.

This hybrid of action thriller and romantic comedy loads up on action, but generates few thrills, little comedy and zero romance. In other words, it has plenty for the eyes and ears, but nothing for the brain.

The film follows highly trained CIA operatives named FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) who have remained friends and colleagues for years, until their mutual bad luck on the dating circuit finds them drawn to the same woman, upscale magazine editor Lauren (Reese Witherspoon).

Soon, the men find themselves less concerned with tracking down an international criminal (Til Schweiger), much to the chagrin of their no-nonsense boss (Angela Bassett), and more focused on using their espionage skills and high-tech gadgetry to outwit one another for the affections of the oblivious Lauren.

Perhaps Pine (Star Trek) and Hardy (Warrior) are trying to diversify their respective filmographies by starring in a comedy, but they aren’t given any help from a script by Timothy Dowling (Just Go with It) and Simon Kinberg (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) that indulges in too many bickering romantic-comedy cliches.

The two actors are each rising stars with proven talent, but they don’t comfortable with the material, and never convey the type of best-friend chemistry needed to make the premise work. Witherspoon, meanwhile, is saddled with a character that becomes increasingly desperate and ditzy as the film goes along.

This Means War is one of those films where the periphery characters supply many of the best comic lines, particularly sardonic television personality Chelsea Handler, in her biggest film role to date playing Lauren’s obligatory friend and confidant. Plus, Rosemary Harris is charming as FDR’s demanding grandmother.

Director McG (Terminator: Salvation) is familiar with big-budget movies that put action before story, and this is no different. He generally gives the film a slick and stylish appearance, such as a glossy opening stunt sequence.

It’s a classic exercise in style over substance in which the pace remains lively but anything resembling a story gets drowned out by all the mayhem.

Rated PG-13, 97 minutes.