Rating: Kernel
With a star-studded cast, including Robert Redford (Spy Game, Charlotte’s Web), Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible III, War Of The Worlds), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia!), Michael Pena (World Trade Center, Babel), and Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Friday Night Lights), Lions For Lambs is the story of two university students who are inspired by their professor to do something meaningful with their lives. When Adrian (Luke) and Ernest (Pena) decide to join the forces in Afghanistan, Professor Malley (Redford) has mixed emotions about their decision. Their story in Afghanistan will meld together two separate stories that occur in opposite sides of the U.S. In California, Professor Malley is trying to understand why one of his students is skipping classes each day. At the same time, in Washington, D.C., the energetic Senator Jasper Irving is about to give an explosive story to a journalist that might affect the fates of Adrian and Ernest in Afghanistan. Each of these Americans have a great impact on the fates of each other and the world.
Lions For Lambs, directed and produced by Robert Redford, roars with its star-studded cast. If you hate Tom Cruise, you’ll hate him even more as he plays the role of the energetic, cocky and arrogant Senator Irving. He plays with his words while speaking with journalist Janine Rothe (Streep). He never admits to failure in Afghanistan but instead he persists that patience and determination will win the war on terror. Meryl Streep’s role of being an anti-war journalist is well acted. The acting by the rest of the cast is nothing superb.
Although Lions For Lambs roars like a lion, the film is as defenseless as a lamb as it has many flaws. The film tries to meld three stories together but fails at its attempt. From switching back and forth through stories to flashbacks, Lions For Lambs is fairly confusing to know in the beginning what is going on. It shows very little about the two friends fighting the war in Afghanistan, which is the main point of the movie, but I guess this anti-war film doesn’t want to show too much of the reality of war. Another flaw of the film is that Adrian and Ernest are in a cold blizzard in the Afghani mountains for hours, but seem to not freeze to death.
The meaning of the title, Lions For Lambs, is that the people running the war aren’t as intelligent as those running past wars. It portrays that war is fought with persuasive words rather than war tactics, which we can see through Senator Irving’s conversation with Janine Rothe. You can almost say that the people running this movie aren’t as intelligent as those that created the classics from the past. A possible response would be a quote from the conversation between Professor Malley and his student: “It’s better trying but failing then failing to try….At least you did something”.
Although the film roars like a lion with its cast, it’s only a lamb. For this reason it shouldn’t be one of your first choices this week, but it’s worthy of an eventual rental.
Theatrical Release Date: November 9, 2007
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