Lions For Lambs – Quite Possibly Leaving You With More Questions Than Answers

I like watching split reviewed movies. You either get it or you don’t and I love to read how the two sides debate. “Lions For Lambs” is definitely not about another American war initiative (though that’s what the main storyline hinders upon) nor how three different stories gel perfectly together (it would have been had it meant to be some sort of thriller or drama). It is a 90 minutes of intense and rather intellectual dialogues between different characters – a senator (Tom Cruise) and a reporter (Meryl Streep) he invited for a 1 hour exclusive interview on a topic the reporter has yet to find out, a college professor (Robert Redford) and his most promising student who has lost faith on political science, and a pair of good friends heading to Afghanistan for a battle because someone in the White House has created a new strategy that would change the world.

“Lions For Lambs” attempts to expose certain inconvenient truth that unfortunately is nothing new to many people. The politicians who defend their ideals with plastic faces, the media companies that work with the government on the war of propaganda, the soldiers (lions) who fight for the country that does not even take care of them in the first place, and the officers (lambs) who sit inside the command center having no idea what it is like at the actual battlefield. Of course, there are the academics who look into the history of mankind and wonder why we keep making the same mistakes again and again.

The acting of Meryl Streep is superb, what a contrast to “The Devil Wears Prada” – a movie that I coincidentally watched on cable just days ago. And I do enjoy watching Robert Redford and Tom Cruise’s acting performance. It is rather unfortunately (again) that even with such heavy weight stars, I suspect a good portion of the audience may find the movie rather boring. I personally had a hard time trying to follow the movie. Not because the script is badly written, but rather there are so many at times fascinating conversations and to absorb them and internalize them at the same time is hard. Many may not have that patience I can imagine. What you may take away from “Lions For Lambs” is not the storyline, but rather the questions raised.