Director: Robert Redford
There aren't many mainstream anti-war films that focus on the social, political and media conflicts surrounding Iraq and Afghanistan, which makes director Robert Redford's latest film, "Lions for Lambs," something unique.
"Lions for Lambs" is presented as three parallel stories and features a critical overview of the Iraq War and its impact on the American media and society. One of the stories focuses on a journalist and a politician, another on a professor and a student, and the third on two soldiers who are stranded somewhere in the snowy mountains of Afghanistan.
The movie opens with a scene involving two students, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena) at West Coast University. Both are inspired by Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) to join the military. However, their mission in Afghanistan soon unravels into chaos, begging the question: How can America ever win the war?
Back in Washington, D.C., veteran journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) is given the task of interviewing Republican presidential candidate Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) to get his thoughts on troop withdrawal and military strategy.
Roth assails the senator with questions about the war's progress, military strategy and past military failures. Despite her persistence, the interview, in her opinion, amounts to nothing. The only quote she scribbles down in her notebook is "Whatever it takes!" She closes her notebook, catches a cab and cries as it passes the thousands of tombstones at Arlington Cemetery.
The film cuts back to West Coast University, where Professor Malley is deluged with the business of giving lectures and grading tests. Malley's almost institutionalized belief in the military seems frighteningly out of touch with reality as he continues to encourage under-performing students to enlist.
The movie is definitely opinionated and slightly exaggerated, but it is nonetheless valid for it. The lines that lingered in my mind were from the conversations between Senator Irving and the journalist Janine Roth. At one point the senator reminds Roth of September 11 and the fear it instilled in the population. Roth retorts by asking the senator why the war in Iraq is taking longer than WWII to win.
Overall, the heavyweight cast does justice to the seriousness of the subject matter without overly hamming it up. It's an engaging and intense movie whose 88 minutes fly by. It's also a great movie to discuss afterwards while drinking coffee long into the night with friends.
Opens in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Nov. 9.
