Lions for Lambs

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The lustrous names of Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise give promise of solid drama and healthy box-office receipts.

Alas, "Lions for Lambs" (UA) turns out to be a well-intentioned but thuddingly static plea for noncomplacency with, we would predict, limited popular appeal.

There are basically three parallel stories here. Slick Sen. Jasper Irving (Cruise) tries to plant an exclusive story about a new U.S. military initiative in Afghanistan with skeptical TV reporter Janine Roth (Streep), who later takes what she views as a moral stand for not running with the story.

The idealistic students Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena) of university political science professor Stephen Malley (Redford) decide to join the struggle in that country to put Malley's inspiring rhetoric into practice.

And sometime later, the professor tries to convince disillusioned student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield) to abandon his cynicism and try to make a difference in the world.

Redford's usually solid directorial gifts fail to give life to an exceedingly talky, heavy-handed and artificial script by Matthew Michael Carnahan, whose screenplay for this season's "The Kingdom" was no great shakes, either. Redford's pacing here is downright clunky.

The three leads try vainly to make the dialogue sound natural, but only Streep and Cruise spark some interest with their opening banter, and even they register as phony. Luke and Pena are earnest and dull, and Garfield, hampered by some really dreary lines, never rings true either. And Redford and Streep, reunited over the title for the first time since 1985's "Out of Africa," have no scenes together, sharing only over-the-title billing.

The "action" scenes in Afghanistan -- poor Ernest and Arian lying wounded in the snow as the Taliban moves in to get them (a fine end to their youthful idealism) -- are murky and bland.

The film seems critical of present-day foreign policy, yet it's balanced with enough patriotic stuff to assuage anyone who might be offended by the former. In any case, the anti-apathy part of the message, however worthy, does not a movie make.

The film contains pervasive conversational expletives, crude expressions, some profanity and wartime battle violence. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops