LIONS FOR LAMBS

By Michael J Edwards / June 24, 2011

Directed by: Robert Redford Written by: Matthew Michael Carnahan Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield, Peter Berg, Kevin Dunn, Derek Luke Distributed by MGM/United Artists Available at Amazon for $17.99 right now! Available at Play for £12.99 right now! Review by Michael Edwards Film:

rating: 2

DVD:

rating: 2

At the time of release many reviewers expressed confusion as to what Lions for Lambs was about. The lengthy diatribes and lack of declarations of political intent or even that many deaths might be to blame for this confusion but frankly I think it was simple enough for those people not so bogged down in left-wing liberal anti-war propaganda and satire that they can actually read into other types of commentary. The tagline alone ("If you don't STAND for something, you might FALL for anything") should be enough to indicate that this is a film about positive action, a film critiquing all the commentators who spout off about the war but won't stand and fight for what they believe in. To be honest, I think that this is a much maligned and under-appreciated message set adrift in a sea of cleverly branded tripe like Stop-Loss and Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden, to name but the most recent examples. The sad thing is that the film just isn't very good. Like Stop-Loss (but with bigger names and without the MTV logos) the film is basically a political monologue that drones on and on and on until you literally can't take anymore. The premise is simple, a jaded University Professor (Redford) tells his irredeemably lazy and liberal, but also intelligent, student the story of two of his earlier students who decided to go to war against the recommendations of their friends, family, peers and, of course, tutor. This story is set against the unfolding events happening to these two men, as well as an interview between a hard-nosed liberal journalist (Streep) and a high-ranking official who just changed military policy in Afghanistan (Cruise). As the tale moves on the idea is that we see how complicated the whole situation is, and learn to accept that although people make mistakes on both sides the important thing is that we actually tried to do what we thought was right. A noble message, but delivered through a mundane and clunky script performed in relatively banal fashion by the stellar cast. Oddly it's a film that I'm glad exists, and it is a nice change from the predictably woolly leftist output which (however much I agree with the politics of) just gets a bit repetitive. However, this is not an exciting or well-penned retort and I sincerely doubt it bears repeat viewing. Maybe rent it if you 'hate hippies' or hold angry right-wing views. EXTRAS A bunch of the usual stuff to elaborate on the themes of the film. Director Commentary: Redford provides a lot of insight into the ideology behind the filming, and the thinking behind the cast, as well as some personal opinions thrown in for good measure. Making of' and 'From Script to Screen' documentaries: These are heavily filled wit clips from the film and don't provide any more than the commentary does. Essentially a bunch of adverts: A 'UA Legacy' advertising the studio by providing a brief glimpse of its illustrious history and a couple of the trailers for this film.