Lions for Lambs

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In the same block of time, California college professor Malley (Robert Redford, who also directed) talks to a political science student about ongoing war; a journalist (Meryl Streep) interviews a gung-ho Senator (Tom Cruise) in Washington, D.C. about a new deployment in Afghanistan; there, soldiers on the move (Derek Luke, Michael Pena), both of whom were Malley’s former students, are ambushed.

Big question: Can "Lions for Lambs" add anything new--or at least more than "Rendition"--to the discussion of national security?

Skip it: "Lions for Lambs" says things we already know in ways that at least make you think about them again, but writer Matthew Michael Carnahan's overly talky drama finds even less depth here than in his script for "The Kingdom." While it's valuable to foster discussions and to see many major viewpoints on display at once, more than four years into the war everything seems so redundant that only someone just waking up from a coma would find these talks remotely novel.

Catch it: If you're not a morning person. Janine agrees: "The only good thing about morning is it ends at noon."

Bottom line: Redford and Streep give it their all, but Cruise is Cruise, and the go-nowhere "Lions" is more of an imitation of life than a reflection on it. Besides, a story about how some politicians and journalists can't be completely trusted should be filed away in the "duh" category.

Bonus: As Malley says, "Professors aren't teachers, they're salesmen." Finally an explanation for why textbooks are always so expensive!

mpais@tribune.com

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