Lions For Lambs - DVD review

[Owen Bartley]

This was a movie that I had some vague interest in while it was at the theatre, but I believe it had a fairly short run despite the star power involved. I'm not usually one for the extremely political movies, but this one looked a little more interesting than most, and in the end I wasn't disappointed.

Lions for Lambs follows a few stories, which I didn't know before watching it, and I think that's what kept me most involved in it. What I'd call the main story line involves Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) giving a rare private interview to veteran journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep). We learn that Irving has been hailed as the next star of his political party, and that it was in fact Roth who was the first to name him that, and this interview is a kind of thank you to her. The interview centers around the US government's new plan to end the war in Afghanistan, by using small groups of fighters to take and hold points of high ground on the battlefield.

This brings us to another storyline. Two US soldiers, Ernest and Arian who just happen to be part of that new strategy, and are on their way to the front line to secure a particular peak in the mountains of Afghanistan with the rest of their unit. As they pass some old anti-aircraft equipment that has been declared unusable and safe, it all hits the fan as they learn they were very wrong about that. In the battle, Ernest is thrown from the chopper, and Arian jumps out after his friend.

Next story... set at "a California University" poly-sci professor Dr. Malley (Robert Redford) has called one of his students in early one morning to discuss his attitude, and his recent absence from classes. I found this story the least interesting, but it all ties in. Malley sees potential in this one, as he occasionally does, and is pushing for him to do something with his gift, rather than to just coast by, land a cushy job, and live the easy life. He tells the story of two of his other students who have put their beliefs and their lives on the line by joining the army... that's right, Ernest and Arian. Despite Malley's protests to them, they march off to war.

The stories keep switching back and forth, and Malley pushes harder, Cruise spouts buzzwords and promises results, and Ernest and Arian get deeper and deeper into trouble on the mountain. Before the end of the interview, Irving takes a phone call where he learns of the disastrous first implementation of his grand new plan. After the interview, Roth takes to heart some of Irving's comments to her about how journalists are just as responsible for the war as the politicians, and begins wrestling with the fact that her career has gotten off track and out of her control as the mass media does seem to care less about what they report and what is really right and wrong. A rescue effort is under way for Ernest and Arian, and things continue to look dismal for the two, as we see flashes back to their classroom days with Malley and see where their determination comes from.

As I said, for a politically themed movie, I was fairly impressed, and I stayed pretty involved right through. It had moments of action with the Ernest and Arian story, and some other fun parts with the others, but they switched up enough so that no one story went on too long and got stale. I'd give it a solid 7 out of 10, mostly just for being better than expected.

[Sonnie]

I have not watched it yet, but plan to. Some of our friends said they thought the movie did not really get started until towards the end.