This Means War

This Means War: Likeable performers can’t save this silly film from running out of steam by the time credits roll. Reese Witherspoon plays Lauren, a woman with a job I can’t really explain—she’s some kind of product quality tester—who winds up dating not one but two CIA operatives (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy), who are also best friends. The two men find themselves in competition for Lauren’s hand, and they do all sorts of unethical things to win it. All three are good and funny here, but director McG can’t make the premise work for the entire running time, and the film just runs out of energy. McG, who made the weak Terminator Salvation, is quite the messy director. Full blame goes to him for this film’s failures, because the actors almost pull it off.