Whether you like or dislike this movie, the ridiculously unrealistic portrayal of the CIA, tropes or uncomfortable situations, there is one thing you can't deny:

The female protagonist -Lauren- is not ridiculed or slutshamed, despite having had relationships in the past and considering sleeping with/dating two guys. (And rightfully so!) Neither the two men in question nor anyone else thinks of that as slutty or bad, which should be a given but ends up being one of the redeeming factors of an otherwise mediocre film. It's sad, but it's also true: I found it positively refreshing how they never questioned or judged her.

I do have huge issues with the actual love-triangle, though. Regardless of the Beauty-and-the-Beast nature of the relationship between Lauren and Chris Pine's character, there is also the fact that both guys used their CIA technology to spy on her and, truthfully, stalk her. To find out where she was, what she liked, whom she had been with in the past. - I don't care how unrealistic it was, or how it was just a plot-decide and a comic relief. It's not acceptable, period.

Lauren and Tom Hardy's character, too, made me slightly uncomfortable. They weren't Beauty-and-the-Beast material, but did the writers need him to be with his ex-wife again after Lauren's final rejection? Was that really necessary? Yes, I, too, wanted him to have a happy ending, giving his sweet and genuine (and stalker!creepy) nature, but that was just too easy, and frankly also too predictable.

Had a few laughs, predicted most of the plot (was surprised one or two times) and overall enjoyed it enough. For a chic flick, it'd probably deserve about 7 stars - IF you're drunk like I was while watching it.

**This Means War has some good elements overshadowed by a story that left me aggravated and disappointed.**

This Means War frustrates me. It has three excellent leads who all give great performances and pretty solid action and stunts, but the story failed this movie altogether. This Means War establishes Hardy and Pine as two inseparable friends that are even closer than family but spend the rest of the film easily dividing and pitting them against each other over a girl they just met. It makes Witherspoon's character feel like she is really hurting these guys' lives, but it's all played as not that big of a deal. And when she ultimately chooses one of them over the other, the guys forgive each other like nothing happened and then jump to characters talking about marriage. I'm old-fashioned regarding loyalty and romance, so this movie irritated my pet peeve. It's not as bad as my rating might imply, but I'm irked.