A good romantic comedy is like a well mixed drink. There needs to be just the right amount of romance and comedy, not too much of one ingredient. Adding action can throw off the whole equation and leave to a bitter taste. In This Means War, a simple Gin and Tonic is turned into a frat party punch bowl.
McG’s talents as an action director go to waste, however. His skills don’t have a chance of saving the damage of Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg’s shallow and unexciting script. The love triangle between Tuck, FDR, and Lauren is unexciting, bearable only because of the trio’s good looks and simmering tension.
Romance scenes are burdened by downright cheesy lines and moments. Tuck and Lauren go on a date where they find a trapeze, and after tumbling onto the safety net, Tuck turned to Lauren and says, “Sometimes falling is the best part.”
Humor was hard to find in the film. Repetitive jokes about FDR’s small hands, and Tuck’s British heritage provided a chuckle the first time they were told, but by the fifth time they became tired.
This Means War is an unfunny, unromantic, rom-com—a concoction that you might have to pinch your nose to swallow.