This Means War: A Date Night Movie for the Whole Audience

What girl doesn’t dream of two handsome men fighting for her affection at one point in her life?  In a movie with Reese Witherspoon as its leading lady, one might automatically assume that the film being reviewed here is some sappy chick-flick with a tearjerker ending, but anyone who has seen the trailers for her most recent film, This Means War, knows that it’s clearly not a chick-flick. 

Why is this 2012 blockbuster not just the average romantic-comedy that only the typical female movie-viewer can enjoy?  Here’s your answer: The first scene involves a C.I.A. bust of an illegal deal, taking place in a glamorous private club crawling with beautiful women.  This is followed by a sequence with action absolutely everywhere, guns, bullets, and well-executed stunts in nearly every frame.  Though the love stories contained in the plot are slow to start, the beginning of this film is sure to grab nearly everyone’s attention. 

The plot starts to come together when Lauren Scott (played by Reese Witherspoon) soon enters as a successful woman with everything, including a conveniently hilarious best friend, Trish (played by comedian Chelsea Handler), except a boyfriend.  As Trish sets her up on a dating website, Lauren reluctantly explores her possibilities, and to her surprise, finds Tuck (Tom Hardy), a sweet and good-looking British “travel agent.”  Of course, as she would in any film of this genre, Lauren goes out with him and meanwhile, bumps into his best friend, F.D.R. (Chris Pine), who also ends up taking her out for a date, not without the use of his smooth and witty charm. 

Things get sticky when these two C.I.A. agents, Tuck and F.D.R., realize that they are dating the same girl, especially since it was F.D.R. who convinced Tuck to start dating again.  The friends decide that they both want the girl, and make a “gentlemen’s agreement” that they will both keep seeing her and come to the conclusion, “may the best man win.”  Literally spy vs. spy, they both hilariously attempt to win her affection by using their C.I.A. ties to secretly survey Lauren in order to get the scoop on everything she likes and thinks about both of them.  This spying all begins in an impressive, heavily choreographed sequence in which the two spies investigate her private life while avoiding her gaze as she, in true bubbly Witherspoon fashion, dances around, unaware of just how close her beaus are.  This surveillance leads to some extravagant dates as well as embarrassing confessions to Trish about both of her flames.  It all goes smashingly well until Lauren finds out about the boys’ little agreement and the movie comes to a close with a thrilling ending, because it wouldn’t be complete without one last action sequence.  And of course, Lauren gets her man after following the wise advice of Trish, “Don't go with the better guy, go with the guy that makes you better.”

Directed by McG (executive producer of television’s action-packed shows, CW’s Nikita and Supernatural), this film is a win-win situation for the audience as well as the characters created within it.  Though it could have turned out to be an average romantic-comedy with corny writing, it really didn’t thanks to the acting and comedic abilities of the central cast, Witherspoon, Handler, Hardy, and Pine, as well a truly original story created by Timothy Dowling, Simon Kinburg, and Marcus Gautesen. 

With a polished cinematography style and a plot that keeps the audience wondering until its final moments, This Means War is a ticket worth the money for the whole audience on date night.  


Thank you for reading!




 I credit this work to myself, Maria NeCastro

More movies I've seen recently

This Means War
-You cannot go wrong with this one, it's really a crowd-pleaser for the whole audience on date night.  & the Valentine's Day release, brilliant move!
-I would recommend this one to fans of, coincidentally, Date Night!

The Rum Diaries
-I wasn't expecting to like this one, but it surprised me.  The writing is brilliant as well as the acting, not just by Depp, though he doesn't disappoint! It does an excellent job of capturing the escapades of a 1960s journalist in Puerto Rico.  The costumes are wonderful.
-If you liked J. Edgar, you'd probably enjoy this one too!


The Secret World of Arrietty
This film from Disney and Studio Ghibli (Japanese creators of Spirited Away) has an absolutely gorgeous animation style, much like moving paint.  It asks the imagination to take a trip into the world of a tiny "borrower" (the size of a mouse, in human form, much like Thumbelina) as she, Arrietty, tries to help her family when her actions lead to a human discovering their existence.  
-I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys all that animated films have to offer.
(P.S. If that didn't sell you, it features the famous voices of Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Carol Burnett!)



Look for my This Means War review tomorrow!

Thank you for reading!

A few movies I've seen recently

Most recently, I have seen (in chronological order starting on Friday) Safe House, What's Your Number?, Another Earth, and The Vow.

The best and most mentally stimulating: Another Earth (a Redbox pick)
-you might like this if you enjoy: The Twilight Zone (vintage episodes)

The good mood-booster: What's Your Number?
-you might enjoy this if you like: Friends With Benefits

The thoughtful and sweet pick: The Vow
-you might enjoy this one if you like movies in which Rachel McAdams' character has memory problems...such as: The Notebook

The intense one with really good acting that I probably wouldn't watch again: Safe House
-if you're someone who likes guns, car-chases, and a lack of a strong female in a movie with guns and car-chases...this one is for you!


Thanks for reading!

Power Makes the Predator in Chronicle

“Why not?” seems to be the question Chronicle director and co-writer, Josh Trank, asked when giving life to this film.  The found-footage sci-fi thriller starts out slow and dark, literally chronicling every step of Andrew Detmer’s (Dane DeHaan) life and quickly becomes a story about the dangers that can come about when power falls into the wrong hands. 

A lonely, struggling, bullied teen in a small town with a bad home-life certainly sounds like a character that many audiences have experienced, yet this plot takes an unexpected turn with the addition of supernatural forces.  Every second of this film is captured in a way that few other movies have used so thoroughly, as it appears to be entirely shot through the lenses of handheld cameras.  With Andrew’s recent decision to bring his camera with him everywhere and video record his life, the film style allows for viewers to really experience the whole film as though they are seeing it through his eyes. 

While at a party to which his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) brought him out of sympathy, Andrew is recruited by his cousin’s ambitious and outgoing friend, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), to record something strange that they found in the forest near the party.  Though reluctant to help, Andrew agrees and the dark picture of his life starts to become brighter. 

After their strange encounter in the woods, the boys quickly become very good friends, especially when they realize that they all have come to share the power of telekinesis from the strange occurrence they recorded. They all appear to be having fun, learning all about, and making light of, what they can do with their powers as Steve reads from his smartphone, “Telekinesis: The ability to move, lift, vibrate —that's my favorite (laughs)— spin, bend, break or impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means.”  Just as any group of teenagers would do, Andrew, Matt, and Steve play with their powers, using toys and playing little tricks to get a laugh out of their circumstances, adding to the realism of Trank’s portrayal.   

Their lives all seem to be improving, particularly Andrew’s, as he becomes more confident and outgoing, less affected by the troubles his abusive father pushes on him; however, it all comes to a screeching halt when Andrew goes beyond their usual playful use for their power and rolls a speeding car into a ditch without warning.  Eventually, they find that they need rules when dealing with so much responsibility, and this is when the characters start to look at their abilities in a different light. 

Though the movie seems to bend back towards happier times, it seems impossible that they can last when a series of events causes Andrew to regress into a state of misery, eventually leading to pure rage.  He practices his ability of destruction as would a psychopath-in-the-making, killing a spider by bringing it into the air and dismembering all of its limbs.  He calls himself an “apex predator” or a predator with no predators of its own, and one can only imagine where he goes from there.  

Chronicle is a contemporary tale that teaches the age-old moral that with great power comes great responsibility.  Though its science-fiction nature and nearly unthinkable circumstances may seem impossible to imagine, this film’s cinematographic storytelling allows the viewer to become completely immersed into the riveting conclusion of this chronicle. The actors who played the main characters (Andrew, Matt, and Steve) have not appeared in many films, which allows the viewer to believe that they are following not some actor in a role, but rather a character experiencing an amazing set of circumstances. With its cast, film style, and directing, Chronicle is a movie that feels far more substantial than its eighty-three minute playtime.  The true meaning of the film seems to be that without enough nurturing and understanding, anyone can turn into the darkest form of themselves, a predator beyond all reasoning. 

(I wrote this for a class, but to not be accused of plagiarism, I credit the words above to myself: Maria NeCastro.)

This Week's Best and Worst

On Sunday night I watched one of the most endearing films that I can remember seeing recently.  Midnight In Paris features a really amazing cast (including: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, and Kathy Bates to name a few) and was directed and written by Woody Allen.  Normally I am not a fan of Allen's work, but this had a superior artistic touch that really deserves some attention.  I would recommend this film to anyone!


Within the past week, I have had the extreme inconvenience of watching a flop from 2011, known as Immortals.  I could not find one nice thing to say about it.  My constructive criticism includes this, however: 1) the costumes and music should have been more in an authentic ancient Greek theme, 2) there should have been more female gods (goddesses) included in the plot.  (The motivational speech given to an army was reminiscent of a football coach's pep talk before a big game...appropriate? Who knows?)

I don't normally grade movies, but this one deserves a D- (for sure).




Thanks for reading/following!