Lions for Lambs Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)November 9th, 2007
LIONS FOR LAMBS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Blah, blah, blah. Much has been written in the newspapers about how American moviegoers have been shunning antiwar films at the box office at a time in which our country is involved in an increasingly unpopular war. The reason for this disconnect is most obvious in films such as LIONS FOR LAMBS. This relentless polemic by director Robert Redford is likely to put both critics and supporters of the Iraq war to sleep.
Like a Sunday sermon, the movie drones on and on with one morality lesson after another. Think of it as a DINER-like talkfest but with a really pathetic script. The script by Michael Carnahan is his second, after his almost as bad one for THE KINGDOM, another anti-war movie that died at the box office.
Although the script is awful and the direction is tediously pedantic, the acting in LIONS FOR LAMB isn't much better. On the screen -- let's not talk about off the screen -- Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood's most reliable actors. But, as Senator Jasper Irving (R, IL), he comes across as wooden as can be. He isn't the least bit believable. He appears to be reading his lines, as if he thinks he is in the film's first rehearsal.
The story isn't the least bashful about its agenda. Opening with pictures of rapidly plummeting approval charts of President Bush and of the GOP, the movie beats us over the head with a two-by-four, lest we miss its never subtle points.
Senator Irving has brought long-time reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) to his office to reveal a new war initiative in Afghanistan. His monologue to her is filled with dopey drivel, as they are going to have to "kill people to help people." With a broad grin, he preaches to his congregation of one, who keeps reminding him that she is no longer a believer.
Another part of the film happens on the battlefield where two soldiers are fighting a hopeless mission against much larger forces. The action here is staged about as realistically as a 1960s made-for-TV movie.
The third and most pretentious part of the picture is the long and talky scenes between Political Science Professor Stephen Malley (Redford) and Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield), his most promising pupil, but a student who doesn't like to come to class and whose grades aren't very good. The lines between them are obtuse and awkward.
Finally, and quite suddenly, the movie just ends, as if the film's financial backers pulled the plug on it after seeing some of the dailies. Although I'm willing to bet that wasn't the reason, the ending is as unsatisfying as the rest of the production. Only the film's sporadic and stirring music is any good. Too bad they didn't save it for a better movie.
LIONS FOR LAMBS runs 1:28. It is rated R for "some war violence and language" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, November 9, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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