Review of Lions for Lambs (2007) by Damien F — 11 Jan 2009

I found that some of the cinematic shorthand approaches to talking about the issues within each respective story diminished the potency of the central theme. The effect is that the central theme got lost within stories and dialogue and exposition of three stories.

They (each storyline) are all asking about "What is our level of involvement in determining our world around us?", personal responsibility, and questions about what are we going to do with our given choices in life to try to make this a better place? Are we really going to pay attention to what's really going on instead of sitting back and letting the world happen around us?

The two university students/soldiers, the professor and student, the senator and the reporter each debate these questions in different situations.

The strength of this movie is that it doesn't tell you what to think. It tells that you should at least think about these issues and come to an overt decision that says "I will engage" or "I will be an observer to the events around us." The subtle beauty is that the movie does a fair job of saying no political or tactical or strategic approach to the war and to our lives is necessarily wrong. But you as a member of our society should decide on your place in it. A minimally-judgmental resolution but one that takes a stand on saying THINK.