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Lions for Lambs
2007 92 min United States of America R 18+
★5.7
Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Director: Robert Redford
Trailers
Description
Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.
Budget:
$35M
US Gross:
$15M
Worldwide:
$64.81M
Starring
Tom Cruise
Actor
Meryl Streep
Actor
Robert Redford
Actor
Awards
3 nominations total
Key opinion
Lions for Lambs is a dialogue-heavy political drama that uses parallel narratives to critique the disconnect between military leadership and the soldiers on the ground. While it succeeds as a provocative exercise in intellectual reflection, it is sharply divided by its stagey, lecture-like presentation.
| Acting | The film features strong, credible performances from a high-profile cast including Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, and Robert Redford. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay effectively utilizes a three-tiered narrative structure to symbolize the relationship between political authority, media, and the personal cost of war. | |
| Pacing | The focus on dense, philosophical dialogue over visual spectacle demands patience, making it a film that is better suited to active listening than passive viewing. | |
| Theme | While some find the political critique profound and timely, others dismiss the film as a collection of predictable, pre-chewed platitudes that lack genuine insight. | |
| Originality | The film functions as an effective, if non-prescriptive, catalyst for independent thought, though critics remain split on whether its lack of definitive answers is a strength or a sign of being non-provocative. |