Throw logic out the window and this 'War' isn't awful

Review

"This Means War" illustrates, better than any film I've seen in a while, just how far being jovial goes in my book.

I know it's a complete mess -- an odd combination of genres that is so ridiculous at points it's hard not to start thinking, "Wait a second!" or use the popular robot expression, "Does not compute."

But it's so likeable that I couldn't help but smile a little. It's like watching a dear friend act in a dreadful play; they make you happy just to see them up there, but you still know the show totally sucks.

I think "This Means War" might work if a person can just believe that everything is perfectly logical and the decisions made by these characters are warranted and rational. Unfortunately it's frequently confusing and most of the decisions made by the three main characters are inane -- I was left wondering how people this clueless managed to become CIA agents.

The film follows two CIA-agent BFFs, FDR (Chris Pine, "Star Trek") and Tuck (Tom Hardy, "Inception"), who start dating the same woman. This poor woman is Lauren (Reese Witherspoon), who spends most of her time either working or hanging out with Chelsea Handler.

Handler just plays herself, although everyone calls her "Trish," and was probably the best part of the movie.

So upon the harsh realization that they're into the same lady, the agents don't exactly handle it like men. Instead of simply duking it out or playing Paper, Rock, Scissors, they make a game out of it.

They both also instruct their CIA minions to commit hours to some extremely invasive surveillance on Lauren, who has no clue her every move is being watched and examined.

I spent long, long minutes thinking about how angry I would be if I found out that the CIA was spending thousands of dollars so two guys could battle over a booty call. It seems like they should have plenty of actual cases to solve.

Maybe that's just the optimist in me.

From here the film is a mixture of your standard Witherspoon romantic comedy and a loud action movie. The action's pretty good, too, but I've known that director McG can do action well since "Charlie’s Angels."

It's the Witherspoon romantic comedy part that he whiffs on.

I must admit that I've always liked Reese Witherspoon. I have no clue how anyone can dislike her -- she's charming, occasionally daring and has a butter-melting smile.

She's so likable in "This Means War" that I started feeling bad for her. You ever see a romantic comedy and halfway through you think that the main lady is pretty darn cool and could totally do better than either of the nincompoops she's talking to ("Bridget Jones' Diary" anyone?)?

Lauren isn't just talking to two nincompoops, either. She's also having her every move watched by dozens of people. The CIA office basically has its own reality dating show.

But she's a sweet, nice lady who totally deserves something that neither man is giving her: respect. Or personal space.

The fun of dating is partially derived from the fact that you don't know everything about what this person does all the time. It's supposed to be fun to find out because they tell you or invite you to meander along together. Watching them constantly, in a way, seems like stealing that.

All of these logical inconsistencies were obviously too much for my brain to handle. As much as I wanted to like "This Means War," I didn't.

It's not terrible, Handler's funny and despite their lapses in sanity all of these characters are somewhat relatable.

I think they should cast Handler to be Witherspoon's BFF again in a normal Witherspoon romantic comedy, because they have fun chemistry and deserve a better movie than this.

"This Means War" is rated PG-13 for some sexual content including references, some violence and action, and for language.

It was originally rated R and might have been better. We'll find out when they release the Unrated version on Blu-Ray. Well, you might. I'm probably not going to watch this again.