The United States has been in a war for many years and it does not look like that will change anytime soon. There has been much news coverage over the years and much disagreement about how things should be handled. The new movie Lions for Lambs deals with the current situation.
In Washington, D.C., reporter Janine Roth arrived to interview Republican Senator Jasper Irving. Janine was surprised that Jasper was giving her an entire hour without any of his PR people being present. Jasper was sharing his new plan to win the war in Afghanistan, though he didn’t give specific details or anything that could be confirmed because of national security. Janine had questions, several of which Jasper didn’t seem to care for.
In California at an unnamed college, Professor Stephen Malley was having an early morning meeting with Todd Hayes, one of his students. Stephen felt that Todd had potential but he had been slacking off for some reason. Stephen was trying to get through to Todd who seemed to have an answer for everything. Stephen told Todd about two of his former students with great potential, Arian Finch and Ernest Rodriguez.
Arian and Ernest had decided to enlist in the army and nothing that Stephen could say would change their minds. They felt very strongly that going would allow them to make a difference. They ended up in the same unit that was stationed in Afghanistan. Their unit was the one that was implementing Jasper’s new plan.
Lions for Lambs shared three different stories that unfolded at the same time in three different parts of the world. The stories were separate but connected. The movie did jump between the stories throughout the movie. I didn’t feel that was confusing and I had no trouble following what was happening. It was always very clear which story was being focused on in every scene. The movie flowed well while jumping between the stories, though there were a few times when I noticed a couple of minor inconsistencies involving items seeming to just vanish between shots. A few of the scenes did move a little slow, but it wasn’t so bad that I felt the movie dragged.
Lions for Lambs wasn’t based on a true story but it is about the very real situation this country is in. Questions were raised about why certain real decisions were made in regard to invading Iraq to begin with. Janine had some very legitimate questions that Jasper side stepped instead of actually answering. He talked a lot and said nothing. He also went off on a self righteous rant at one point as well that basically made it clear that he was willing to do anything to achieve his goals. There are probably politicians that think that way, which I think is scary.
There really weren’t any battle scenes in Lions for Lambs even though the war on terror played an important part in the plot. Certain things that were going on in Afghanistan in regard to the plan that Jasper cooked up were shared. That did make it clear that the people in Washington, D.C. thinking up plans or strategies actually had no clue what the troops were really facing in several cases. Bits of the mission that Arian and Ernest’s unit were sent on were shown, including some fighting. The movie really wasn’t violent overall, but there were moments that had graphic violence. Those parts were not pleasant to see and might bother some viewers. This wasn’t what I consider a typical war movie since there really weren’t a lot of battles shown. Because of that, people who don’t tend to like war movies may like this one. Those few violent scenes as well as some swearing earned the movie an R rating. This really isn’t a movie for children and frankly I don’t think most children would be interested in the subject matter anyway.
I feel that Lions for Lambs is a very good, powerful movie that raises some interesting questions. It makes you think and deserves to be seen. Unfortunately, the movie hasn’t done well at the box office. That doesn’t really surprise me for a few reasons. First, it was facing other very popular movies, American Gangster and Bee Movie, that were still drawing in large numbers. It was also opening the same time as the family friendly Christmas movie Fred Claus. Maybe the movie would have done better if it was released at a different time. The other big reason I think for why the movie hasn’t been doing better is because the movie is focused on the war on terror. The movie didn’t just give a positive spin to everything that has happened connected to that. In fact, the movie dared to raise questions about some of the policies of this country and how things were handled. The movie also questions the way the media covered what was happening. That is going to rub some people the wrong way and cause them to stay away, which is a shame because this is a very good movie. This wasn’t a fun or happy movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good.
Lions for Lambs mostly focused on six characters without any of them becoming really fully developed. Jasper was proud of his past achievements and his place as a Republican Senator. He was very good at not really saying anything even though he talked a lot. He spouted off answers that weren’t really answers to questions he didn’t particularly care for. He had charisma, which drew people to him. He was absolutely set in his convictions on how to win the war. I did think that Tom Cruise handled the part very well even though I wouldn’t say I was one of his fans.
Janine had been a reporter for many years, starting her career covering the Vietnam war. She’d written a complimentary article about Jasper after he was first elected. She had several questions related to Jasper’s new plan and didn’t like that she had no way to verify what he told her. She still had some strong convictions. Meryl Streep was wonderful in the part. This was the second political type of movie that she has been in this year. Her character was very different in Rendition. Kevin Dunn turned up briefly as Janine’s editor at the news station she worked for. I believe that station, called ANX, was supposed to be either CNN or Fox News.
Stephen had been a college professor for a long time. He felt it was important to encourage or even push the students that he thought had potential. He didn’t like that Arian and Ernest had enlisted, but he respected their decision. Robert Redford, who directed the movie as well, was very good in the part. He made Stephen a believable character and created a movie that will make people think. Todd did seem a bit cocky at times, especially when he was coming up for all sorts of excuses for why he had slacked off so much. Todd had a lot of ideas and opinions and did seem to have a sense of entitlement about certain things. I really didn’t like him that much because of those things. Andrew Garfield was fine in the part.
Arian and Ernest had been in at least one of Stephen’s classes together and were friends. I’m not sure if they had met in the class or known each other before that. They were intelligent and willing to work hard. They had ideas on what they could do to improve things in the country and that did include enlisting and going off to fight in the war. They were very likable, believable characters. Michael Pena and Derek Luke handled the parts really well. Peter Berg was also shown in several scenes as the commander in Afghanistan.
Main Cast
Peter Berg - Lt. Col. Falco Tom Cruise - Senator Jasper Irving Kevin Dunn - ANX Editor Andrew Garfield - Todd Hayes Derek Luke - Arian Finch Michael Pena - Ernest Rodriguez Robert Redford - Professor Stephen Malley Meryl Streep - Janine Roth
Robert Redford - Director
Lions for Lambs was a good, powerful movie that will make people think. It won’t be for everyone because of the subject matter, but I think it is worth seeing at least once.
Product DetailsOriginal Title:Lions For Lambs (Full Screen Edition)Actors: Meryl Streep - Robert Redford - Tom CruiseCondition: USEDFormat: DVDDirect...More at iNetVideo.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.