“Lions For Lambs” is a rarespecies.
The glossy, dialogue-heavy production employs some of the most revered stars in the Hollywood galaxy to put over a movie more about provoking thought than generating commerce.
Directed by, produced by and co-starring Robert Redford with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, today’s well-intended if earnest political drama may not be the entertainment option of choice this weekend for most Americans, however. In fact, that reality lies at the heart of this indictment of a sell-out media, incompetent government establishment and most of the rest of us — a numb and selfish U.S. citizenry — in this post-9/11 era.
According to screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan (“The Kingdom”), the “lions” in this society — as Iraq and Afghanistan war policies falter and the threat of Islamic fascism looms greater — are our brave military folks. They are the only ones risking something to make things better while we “lambs” drive our fancy cars and otherwise live in denial of the dangerous truth of an apocalyptic world.
News junkies and fans of huge brand-name actors performing their usual silver screen party tricks — these are the target audiences for this concise piece.
With surprising energy, it cross-cuts back and forth among three related storylines unfolding simultaneously in near real time.
On the campus of a California university, it’s early morning. Liberal old political science professor Dr. Stephen Malley (Redford) is meeting with a promising though apathetic student (Andrew Garfield) in an attempt to engage him in school and, perhaps, a feeling for public service.
At the same time on the Hill in D.C., jaded TV journalist Janine Roth (Streep) has been called in to get a big scoop from glib Republican Sen. Jasper Irving (Cruise): Special forces in Afghanistan at that moment are beginning to mount a new offensive against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden to gain small points of high ground there. Will Roth buy into the senator’s spin on another arbitrary strategy?
Meanwhile, the film’s action goes right to the Afghan front, where two idealistic former students of professor Malley who volunteered to become soldiers (Derek Luke and Michael Pena) are about to become fodder in the latest Washington mind games.
Despite some obvious partisan leanings here, the other point of view is given fair hearing in Carnahan’s words and through Cruise’s charisma and passionate line delivery as the token hawk. And if “Lions” sometimes seems more like medicine than a movie, at least it isn’t that hard to swallow.
‘Lions For Lambs’
***
Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise
Director: Robert Redford
Rated R for some war violence and language
Running time: 88 minutes
