These are some photos of Reese Witherspoon going into and coming out of the Ed Sullivan Theater last night, where she made an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman. I’m not being fair to Reese, using this bitchface’d photo as the header. I like her little bitchface, though. She has a great one, and I suspect that just like me and Jessica Alba, Reese’s default expression is rather surly and unpleasant.

Of course, Reese may have a reason to feel surly. She’s promoting This Means War, which is getting not-so-great reviews (some are just awful, honestly). Industry insiders are also shaking their heads at this film – it was supposed to get a wide release today, but last week the studio pushed it back to Friday. There are still going to be “sneak-peek screenings” tonight in some-odd 2000 theaters though – I guess they’re hoping for a “soft opening” and then a word-of-mouth success? The problem might be that though This Means War is being billed as an entertaining romantic comedy in which Reese plays a fun-loving sexy ditz, the critics say it’s just plain embarrassing. Here’s part of MSNBC’s review, which is one of the first ones to pop up when I googled (you can read the whole thing here):

Some films have certain scenes that need to be redone, but on “This Means War” the whole picture should have been sent back for a reshoot. This perfectly dreadful romantic action comedy manages to embarrass its three eminently attractive leading players in every scene, making this an automatic candidate for whatever raspberries or golden turkeys or other dubious awards may be given in future for the films of 2012. It’s an eye-roller from start to finish, although the promise of a sexy competition between two CIA hunks for the attention of a man-starved honey might attract some misguided souls. Originally set to open on Valentine’s Day, which falls on a Tuesday this year, the Fox release has been hastily rescheduled simply to sneak on Feb. 14 and legitimately bow three days later.

There is more than a hint of kinship between the eventually violent rivalry that develops here when best buds FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) both court the very available Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) and the competitive relationship of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” a fact that might have something to do with the contributions of screenwriter Simon Kinberg to both films (this one was co-written by Timothy Dowling). The more elegant ladykiller FDR and brawnier but less refined Tuck are best mates and at first think they can handle the contest, but when it seems Lauren likes them both equally, the claws come out.

…It gets worse right away, in embarrassing scenes in which the beautiful Lauren runs into an old flame and his fiancee on the street in Los Angeles and pretends she’s off to meet her (nonexistent) boyfriend for lunch, then immediately encounters the couple again when she’s alone at a sushi bar. Surely a composed and confident 30-something professional woman like her would no longer act like a silly teenager in such a situation.

To cure Lauren’s condition, her so-called best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) registers her with an online dating site, which is where she comes to Tuck’s attention. For his part, FDR tries to pick her up in a giant video store (does such a thing still exist?), but Lauren gives him an initial heave-ho after an argument over the relative merits of Hitchcock films — he having recommended “The Lady Vanishes” and she insisting upon the superiority of the director’s later American films.

At the center of things, presumably, is Lauren’s decision of which man to choose. Her confidant is written in to provide a sounding board and goad her into action, but Handler has been photographed to look practically like Lauren’s mom and appears entirely at a loss; the “actress” barely even makes eye contact with Witherspoon and has no sense of creating a character.

The one thing Trish does suggest is for Lauren to give both guys a test drive. But such a move would have pushed the film dangerously into “Jules and Jim” territory, which might have been the one move that could have provided “This Means War” with some genuine edge and interest but also would have made Lauren too loose a woman for a mass consumption movie such as this. No risk, no gain.

The three leads do look awfully good doing very stupid things and all will survive to star another day. The sooner this one recedes into the rear-view mirror the better for all concerned.

[From MSNBC]

Sounds about right – insipid, dumb, poorly written and poorly executed. Plus Chelsea Handler’s ridiculous presence. You could pretty much see all of that from the trailer. I also checked Rotten Tomatoes – the film is currently scored at 41%. Not good, but not the worst. Is this really how Reese wants to stay on top? With these kinds of idiotic career moves? Dear Reese: You are an Oscar-winning actress. Stop trying to be Jennifer Aniston.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.