LIONS FOR LAMBS

"That is the pivotal question of out time"

As the War on Terror continues and public opinion around the US and the world is still passionately divided, Senator Jasper Irving (Cruise) asks reporter Janine Roth (Streep), the woman who had called him the future of the Republican Party eight years earlier, for a sit down so he can reveal the US government's new initiative in Afghanistan. At the same time Doctor Stephen Malley (Redford) sits down with student Todd Hayes (Garfield), to see why his attendance and attitude in class has changes since the beginning of the semester. In the meeting he talks about two former students, Arian Finch (Luke) and Ernest Rodriquez (Peņa) who set out to make a difference and are now in Afghanistan about to put the Senator's new operation into affect.

Movies with political messages have been ten a penny since the 'War on Terror' began in 2001 but after over six years and waning public support, can 'Lions for Lambs' reignite the discussion?

The American led 'War on Terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan has raised many a debate and reaction around the world and divided the people with the US itself. Both Democratic and Republican supporters alike are split in their backing of President George W. Bush policies towards the Military presence in the Middle East and Hollywood filmmakers are just a split in their own views. 'Lions for Lambs' raises this argument again on the big screen but do film stars and motion pictures have the powers to cause argument, raise awareness and put across a point of view within been labelled bias or one sided?

Filmmaker Robert Redford is no stranger to tackling political issues through his own movies and his involvement with independent film via his Sundance foundation and festival, so a movie tackling a social and debatable issue such as the 'War on Terror' should have been one that you instantly should have taken notice of but unfortunately the film is more of a statement than a question. Political movies are made to cause debate amongst viewers and raise awareness of a situation that needs to be discussed. Redford and writer Matthew Michael Carnahan have created three connected stories that highlight the current feeling within the US. Firstly we have the political point of view from up and coming Republican senator Jasper Irving, played with great gusto by Tom Cruise in his first supporting role since 'Magnolia'. He is revealing the administration's new tactic in Afghanistan to respected reporter and Republican Janine Roth and in a rare moment for a politician, admitting that the government had made mistakes. This, of course, was just another plan to crush an enemy that is not as easily defeated as they had hoped. The second story involves a college professor, played by Redford himself, and a wayward student who is disenchanted with his political science class. This story becomes a debate on the moral aspects of the American people and their support or disenchantment with current approach to the military presence in the Middle East. The final story shows the consequences of both government policy and educational debate as two former students fight for their lives as the new tactic in Afghanistan goes disastrously wrong. This is the emotional treat of the movie, that ties the two sides of the story together but it ends up been the only worthy story of the three.

The political debate between the senator and the reporter is a little too staged and becomes too anti-Republican to be truly effective, even though Cruise and Streep are as watchable as ever. The student/tutor debate about the effectiveness of war and the consequences of trying to make a difference in the world has little merit as neither character seems to make a real point and at one point they seem to be making the same statement. Only the story of the soldiers has any resonance because these are the people that are truly effected by American's presence in Afghanistan and it is them that have to lay down their lives for a war that not all of their own people support.

'Lions for Lambs' is a little toothless and too one sided to really create any kind of debate amongst the audience. Most of the points it raises have been shown before and really should be part of a documentary and not a piece of theatrical entertainment. This is a movie of now and one that will be quickly forgotten about when the current political situation changes again.

Director's Commentary
On the Front Lines: The Making of Lions for Lambs Featurette Weaving the Thread with the Writer
The Story and the Script
A Studio Reborn: the re-birth of United Artists
Trailers: Lions For Lambs teaser and theatrical trailer
Valkyrie trailer

Fahrenheit 9/11

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2007