Review of Lions for Lambs (2007) by Adam G — 06 Aug 2008

"Lions for Lambs" is a major disappointment. It's sad, too, because there's a lot to like about this movie. The dialogue is insightful and thought-provoking, with the "duel" between Streep and Cruise showing particular skill.

That's really the best part of the movie. However, the arc with Redford's Professor Malley and the young student, while a good idea, isn't really very clearly related to the other stories.

Let me clarify. It's not that it's entirely unrelated; I can see exactly what Carnahan (the writer) was going for with the connection to the other stories. In the end, though, that arc falls flat, just like the rest of the picture.

Additionally, this film ends about 10 minutes too early. The only arc that actually gets any kind of resolution is the arc with the two young soldiers, which was fairly effective, despite subpar acting from Pena and Luke.

The Streep/Cruise arc has no resolution to speak of, and that's really unfortunate, because it really could have ended in a way that was faithful to the characters and satisfying to the audience. I'm completely in favor of movies that question the United States' foreign policy and place in the world.

I have a lot of the same questions that are asked in this film. However, despite the murky horizon that the nation seems to be headed toward, I believe that filmmakers need to take a chance and, if they don't arrive at a conclusion, then they ought to have their characters make some sort of decision about how they're going to respond to the state of the world.

For example, "In the Valley of Elah," which was derided by a lot of the press, (I liked it a lot) ends with the Tommy Lee Jones character taking a stand, in his own way, that signified a complete arc by showing a major change from his feelings at the beginning of the film.

In its own way, it came full circle. "Lions for Lambs" is desparate for any type of ending that shows the characters either deciding to act or not to act. By ending the film with their indecision, "Lions for Lambs" falls completely flat.