By Sara Pintilie/entertainment editor
Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs is among the slew of political films this year, and though entertaining at times, the movie is ultimately stagnant.
The unfortunate choice of a film title is from the passage “never have I seen such lions led by such lambs.”
Reporter Janine Roth (Sophie’s Choice’s Meryl Streep) gets a one-on-one interview with Sen. Jasper Irving (Rain Man’s Tom Cruise) so he can pitch a news story to her.
The story deals with a war event that involves two men, Arian (Catch a Fire’s Derek Luke) and Ernest (Crash’s Michael Peña).
Arian and Ernest used to be students of Professor Stephen Malley (The Sting’s Redford).
Malley, distraught about Arian’s and Ernest’s joining the armed forces, coaches slacker student Todd (Andrew Garfield) on what made Ernest and Arian such great students.
The movie consists mainly of dialogue with a few sequences of action sprinkled in.
Three different conversations weave together and basically fuel this film.
The movie plainly oozes politics until it isn’t a film anymore but an agenda.
Most of the time, the film, or mainly Irving’s story, talks about things that would make most men scratch their heads in confusion.
The audience loses interest with its bluntness and pretension.
Redford’s agenda seems to be to preach his anti-war stance, but he forgets to create a compelling movie.
Every once in a while, Lions for Lambs is entertaining.
The whole Ernest-Arian storyline is mildly amusing, and Roth’s response to Irving’s news is worthy of screen time.
But most of the time, the film consists of one-liners and a slanted view of the war. Nothing really new or extravagant is said in this flick.
Overall, Lions for Lambs is a rehash of the same old story but with a glitzier cast.
But the weird thing about this film is that though there is so much wrong with it, there is something compelling about the dysfunction.
It draws the audience in and keeps them engaged even though they don’t know.
Maybe it’s Streep or politician Cruise, but something makes the audience watch this liberal train wreck.
Cruise is eerily good as a senator, but then again, he can be like a politician sometimes.
Streep and Peña are also good in this film; it is a shame their talents are wasted in this movie.
Perhaps it would be best to skip Lions for Lambs while it is in the theaters unless you’re in the mood to be liberal with no sense of rhyme or reason.
If you’re a Streep or Cruise fan, wait for the DVD release.
