Thoughtful film, worth watchingby Anonymous
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April 22, 2008:
This is a thoughtful film and well worth watching. “Lions for Lambs” offers various perspectives on the "War on Terror". It also addresses the problem of apathy and the lack of faith in government. I was surprised to find how much I related to the diverse characters in the film who defended opposing views: The truth-seeking journalist the young men from poor neighborhoods who want to make the world better the intellectual slacker who sees through the bull of politics and asks “what’s the point of caring or getting involved?” the senator who promotes the need to smash obvious evil with military might in order to prevent it from spreading and the university professor who believes we all still have a responsibility to care, no matter how bad and pointless it all may seem. Despite their opposing positions, I found at least some things that were reasonable in all of the characters. One of the most important points "Lions for Lambs" makes is that the US media has lost its way with terrible consequences. Television news in particular has become laughable. With so much time and effort given to covering pop stars and missing white women, there is little air time left for analytical coverage of government policies and actions—not to mention the 25,000 children who die each day in poverty around the world or the rapid loss of our planet's biodiversity. No one should approach this movie with the expectation of seeing an action-packed war movie. This is mostly a talking-heads film. If you are a thoughtful person who knows and cares about current events, you will probably enjoy this movie. However, if you await the latest reports on the Britney Spears' saga with breathless anticipation, then this movie is likely to disappoint you. Then again, you may be the very person who needs to see it most. --Guy P. Harrison, author of “50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God” "Prometheus Books 2008"
It takes time for the punch to be felt...by Anonymous
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April 09, 2008:
LIONS FOR LAMBS as a movie has the courage to do just what the message of the film attempts to do: encourage the American public to stop being so apathetic about our position in the global community. The dramatization of three points of view about the Middle East conflicts (it not only takes on the Iraq debacle, but adds the Afghanistan and Iran problems as well) could, in lesser hands than Robert Redford's direction of Matthew Michael Carnahan's script, be a preachy bore. But while the 'action' of the film may not grab the viewer, the afterburn of the message will haunt the thinking person. Three scenarios interweave (at times a bit bumpy in the editing, and at times a bit distracting): adamantly pro-war Republican Senator Irving (Tom Cruise) is interviewed by long time thinking journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) and each defends/attacks the current strategy of the war in Iraq (Irving is taking calls about the latest 'expansion' into Afghanistan) Professor Malley (Robert Redford) tries to resurrect a sense of involvement in a student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield) once bright but now sinking into the apathy of living the good life ex-students of Professor Malley - Arian Finch (Derek Luke) and Ernesto Rodriguez (Michael Peña) - have committed to the idea of acting for change and have ended up being dropped in Afghanistan in the very 'new' war Senator Irving is addressing. By stirring these three approaches to the manner in which the public is a currently addressing the war in Iraq in a concurrent conversation, the film involves the viewer in the crossfire of apathy and misinformation that come from failed education, faulty governmental intervention and the media sellout to get ratings. It is not a pretty picture, but then our current state of affairs is not one of which we can be proud. There are no answers here, just harsh realities and questions as to why we can remain so passive as a nation involved in the lowest state of global respect ever known. The film has flaws, but if the viewer can digest the information illustrated by some very fine acting, perhaps there may be a chance for a wake-up call. Watch it for the message, not expecting a thriller or an action movie. The mind is what is engaged here. Grady Harp
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