Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Fresh and Exciting

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I don't know. It was a multiple-story-line film, like Crash, but those story lines never intersect.

There is so much wrong with this talky polemic that it's hard to know where to start. First, a US senator with Presidential aspirations brings a TV journalist to his office to announce a new military strategy in Afghanistan. Huh..? Since when do US senators make or announce US military strategy..? What happened to the Dept. of Defense, the SECDEF, the POTUS..? Are they on vacation..? Then the senator, Tom Cruise in one of his most unbelievable roles, tells the journalist, Meryl Streep, the new strategy has begun 10 seconds ago. Hold on, this US senator is announcing a military operation to the press while it is still ongoing..? Isn't that a violation of security..? Perhaps you're beginning to see some of the problems with this film. A film that purports to be realistic, dealing with real world issues, in politics and military strategy should at least try to achieve some verisimilitude, that is it should at least attempt to look real. Then we have the actual military operation, beginning with a briefing by the Battalion Commander to what appears to be his entire command, where they continually interrupt him with questions. Huh..?

Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) is an up and coming Republican Senator and he's giving an hour long interview to reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep). In Afghanistan, special forces Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Peña) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke) fell out of their helicopter after being attacked. Both stories are alluding to Iranian assistance to the Taliban. Also poli-sci Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) is trying to get apathetic student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield) to try harder. He tells the story of Ernie and Ari.The three stories don't flow that well together. The only compelling story is to wonder what happened to Ernie and Ari. They are definitely trying to make a message movie. Two of the three stories are very static taking place in a room. The message is high minded and tiresome. The interview feels like a tired Sunday morning political discussion. The professor and student part feels a little more interesting. This whole exercise feels manufactured after watching a lot of cable news or maybe too many encounters with apathetic young people.

Very few movies make your gray matter active and provoke a thought in your head, start the ball rolling, and this is one such movie. Lions for lambs is a movie surely worth your watch. The plot is flat, with things happening at different places within about same time period but it is infused with profound subtlety that provides the film with a rich texture, with the superb background score helping a lot. Meryl Strep is fabulous and so is every other actor in the film. Each role is justified with the right amount of screen time. This film is tough, of a sort that would have a different reaction if you are watching it in different situations and will also depend on how much you support the war in Afghanistan. This is not a popcorn movie, it is like a lecture by a wise a person from whom you can learn a lot, only if you want to. So watch it only if such things inspire and interest you, then you shall like it.