By Curt Schleier
LIONS FOR LAMBS may not be a movie for all time, but it certainly is a movie for these times. It is actually three separate stories interwoven together as tightly as a girl’s braid -- about politics, about the media and about the responsibility we as individuals have as citizens in a democracy. It is a serious film that is as exciting as any adventure flick; and if art is supposed to provoke debate, then LION FOR LAMBS qualifies as art.
Sen. Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) invites TV journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) to his office. Irving, a graduate of West Point, is a Presidential hopeful. Roth once called him a comer in the Republican Party, and ostensibly Irving is repaying the favor by offering her a scoop about a new military policy in Afghanistan; small platoon-size groups of Special Forces soldiers are being sent to claim the high ground before the snow melts and enemy combatants can get to them.
At the same time on the West Coast, political science Prof. Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) calls one of his students, Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield), to his office. Malley, in his late 50s and a Vietnam vet, is increasingly frustrated by the students he teaches. They no longer have the fire in their eyes the way his generation did. At one time, Hayes was different; he came to class passionate about the subjects being discussed. But like many of his classmates, he’s become apathetic, less concerned with government than with how to become a wealthy investment banker. Malley hopes to re-engage him.
About eight hours further west, a helicopter load of soldiers is preparing to take off for a hilltop. Intelligence assures that the area is safe. Included in the platoon are two soldiers, Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Pena) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke). One is Hispanic, one black; they met in Prof. Malley’s class. They come from disadvantaged backgrounds, were able to get to school only on the basis of athletic scholarships and presumably have a lot to be angry about. But once there, with the world at their finger tips and their fellow students mocking them for it, they enlist.
Back in DC, on one level what Irving contends makes sense. But it does not stand up to Roth’s probing questions. Why this policy? Why now? Why not years ago? How do we know this one will work when everything else we tried failed? Irving gives stock answers. Forget about what happened before. We had the worst intelligence. Now the intelligence is accurate.
Meanwhile, the soldiers approach their landing site and come under enemy fire. The intelligence was wrong. Again. A rocket hits the helicopter, and Rodriguez is knocked out of the helicopter. Finch jumps after him while the helicopter teeters off with the remaining survivors.
The discussion in the Senators office goes all over the place. The senator holds the media complicit in fermenting war fever. The media is just a windsock, he says, pointing the way of the prevailing winds. Roth agrees. Since conglomerates have taken over the networks and news is no longer a priority. The public has an appetite for Brittney Spears not hard news.
There is an interesting and subtle moment. Earlier, Irving had taken a phone call privately. Now, he looks at the clock and precisely at that moment the phone rings. He takes the call there in front of her. Clearly, he is expecting news that the platoon has landed safely, secured the ridge and the mission was successful. When he finds out otherwise, does he tell Roth? Hardly.
Instead he says “I’m sick and tired of being humiliated by these ragtag guys.” Clearly, for Irving it isn’t about right or wrong or about politics, it’s about who has the bigger balls.
When she returns to her office, Roth begs for time to investigate what Irving told her. Her boss says no and puts it on the air immediately, once again swallowing the government position whole; wasn’t it Bob Dylan who said the answer is blowing in the windsock?
Yes, the film is a little talky, but the talk is intelligent. The arguments may be old hat to people who’ve heard it before, but how many of us have? Redford has done a remarkable job as director balancing the separate stories and keeping it all from sounding too preachy.
As an aside, there have been several stories in the media lately pointing out that many highly-regarded films with serious war-related themes have bombed (no pun intended) at the box office. Rendition is just one of several examples frequently cited. I don’t know what the prospects for this picture are. But if there is one film I’ve seen this year that can make a difference, it is LIONS FOR LAMBS.
By the way, the title apparently comes from what a World War I German general said about the valiant British troops: “No where else have I seen such lions led by such lambs.” Lately it’s been the poor lions led off to slaughter.