![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
There are tons of great action flicks and romantic comedy movies out there, but there are few movies that feature both well. “This Means War” manages to combine the two genres along with elements of comedy and does the whole thing with class.
Starring Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, “This Means War” is about two professional CIA agents and best friends FDR and Tuck (Pine and Hardy) who both fall for the same girl, Lauren Scott (Reese Witherspoon). After realizing they’re both dating the same woman, the two try to set some ground rules to prevent each other’s meddling in the name of sportsmanship, but it isn’t long before both are spying on Lauren to find some way to win the girl over.
Not only do they both wire tap Lauren’s apartment, but they also begin sabotaging each others romantic attempts, such as one scene where Tuck takes Lauren out driving (after he learned that she likes classic roadsters) and FDR follows them in a predator drone, or another scene where Tuck shoots FDR in his apartment with a tranquilizer dart from the next building over. Between the “Spy vs. Spy” comedy, the two agents also have to deal with a national criminal out for revenge on their lives, which comes to a head at the end of the film.
One would think that these two major plots would be hard to balance in only a two hour film, and there are times when it takes a very long time to transition between the two. Throughout the middle of the film the whole criminal plot of the film takes a backseat to the romantic love triangle plot (appearing only as little snippets between scenes until the end), and there are times when you’ll wonder why they’re paying so little attention to what seems to be an important issue.
FDR and Tuck are really being “spyish” and the movie really shines in these parts (such as one scene where both agents are sneaking around Lauren’s house taking pictures without her or the other agent knowing). I really enjoyed the scenes where the agents use their technology such as the predator drones and wire tapping, showing the absurdity of using the CIA’s resources for such petty competition.
Overall, despite it’s small flaws, “This Means War” is still one the best films I’ve seen this year and I would definitely recommend it. Whether you’re going for the action sequences, the romance, or the comedy, “This Means War” offers something for every moviegoer. I give “This Means War” a B+ rating.
This film is rated R for some sexual content.