Lions for Lambs

A professor and his student, a reporter and a senator, and two soldiers, all performing on three separate stages; a university campus, Washington D.C., and a battlefield in Afghanistan, in the new movie Lions for Lambs.

If nothing else this movie presents the issues the whole world is thinking about everyday and like the websites asks; What do you stand for? Are you apathetic or will you do something to help make a difference?

As I left the theater I was emotionally moved by the three pronged assault to my sensibilities. The thoughts, the emotions, and the re-examination of my beliefs. But as the Hollywood glitz and the dazzling performances, by Streep, Cruise, and Redford wore off, I began to wonder if I had just been exposed to the screen writers own form of propaganda. In the movie Meryl Streep’s character, reporter Janine Roth decides Senator Jasper Irving's story he is pushing on her is pure ‘propaganda’ and is using her to grease the skids for his eventual bid for the White House.

Now I wonder if the film itself is not just a big work of propaganda itself disguised as a geo-political thriller. It’s nothing more than a liberal public service ad. I won’t ruin the ending for you, but how it ends is not the typical triumphant, everybody lives happily ever after, ending that you would expect.

I don’t have a racist bone in my body, but it is no coincidence that the two soldiers are Black and Hispanic, again shoving the immigration, and social issues that our great country is currently dealing with in my face. The film asks; How long will our country remain great? We must have a “win” at all costs, claims Tom Cruise’s character.


Despite this, the film at least makes you think. It makes you look in the proverbial mirror and
ask—What do I stand for? Will I play the XBOX 360 all day while Rome burns or will I get off my ass and make a difference, and for that I applaud the film.

Bottom line is, if you want to go out for a fun night on the town and escape the realities of life for a couple of hours, don’t go see Lions for Lambs. But if you want to have everything you stand for challenged, if you want a film that stirs you heart and makes you think hard about the current direction of your life and our world then you must check out Lions for Lambs. Think about it!